Battling for the Blues

Eleven years have passed since a plan was approved to help endangered blue whale populations recover, yet the federal agency in charge of enforcing the recovery effort is failing to take the mandatory steps to save the world’s largest animal from extinction. So this week, the Santa Barbara-based Environmental Defense Center (EDC) notified the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of its intent to sue the agency for violating the Endangered Species Act by failing to implement the recovery plan. Complaining that the plan has been “sitting on NMFS’s shelves gathering dust,” EDC attorney Brian Segee stated, “It is imperative that NMFS act immediately to effectively and aggressively address all threats to blue whale populations as required by the blue whale recovery plan.”

The planet’s blue whales were nearly obliterated by modern whaling during the 20th century. That practice was stopped by a worldwide hunting ban in 1966, and the species was added to the United States’ endangered species list when the Endangered Species Act passed in 1973. But many hazards still exist, including entanglements with fishing gear, toxins and trash in the water, and, most significantly, large ships. Today, the Santa Barbara Channel is “the surest place to see [blue whales] on the planet,” claimed Segee, boasting the channel has the “densest seasonal congregation in the summertime.” But it’s also a popular shipping lane, making the channel the “epicenter” for ships hitting blue whales.

Just two years ago, five whales died as a result of ship strikes in the Santa Barbara Channel. “We were hoping NMFS would use those tragic events to redouble its efforts,” said Segee, but he lamented that even those deaths were not enough to overcome the “bureaucratic inertia” that he labels the biggest hurdle to enforcing the plan. The EDC hopes that the notice of intent to sue will convince NMFS to take action, said Segee, who would prefer that court intervention not be necessary.