A U.S. District Court in Maryland recently ruled in favor of a coalition of environmental groups, finding that a federal assessment of oil and gas activities’ impact on the critically endangered Rice’s whale was flawed.
Rice’s whales (Balaenoptera ricei) were identified as a new species in 2021 after a dead whale with plastic in its gut, washed ashore in Florida, allowing scientists to study it closely. With fewer than 100 individuals estimated to remain, these 17-meter (55-feet) long whales are among the most endangered species of large whales in the world. Rice’s whales are endemic to the Gulf of Mexico and found nowhere else on earth. At the same time, the Gulf is a hotbed for offshore oil production, with roughly 15% of all U.S. crude oil coming from the region.
In 2020, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued an assessment, or a biological opinion, that was supposed to ensure oil drilling could be done in a way that would not harm the whales. However, the recent decision from the district court in Maryland found that the opinion did not sufficiently address multiple concerns: it violated the Endangered Species Act and “underestimated the risk and harms of oil spills to protected species.” The court said NMFS incorrectly assumed the population of Rice’s whale remained the same after the catastrophic Deep Water Horizon spill, despite their own evidence to the contrary. Scientists estimate roughly 20% of the population was lost during that 2010 spill.
The court also said the biological opinion didn’t adequately address all the stressors from oil and gas development, such as the number of ship strikes that were likely as a result.
“Simply put, this biological opinion would have condemned the Gulf of Mexico Rice’s whales to extinction,” said Joanie Steinhaus, ocean director for the California-headquartered nonprofit Turtle Island Restoration Network, one of the plaintiffs in the case, in a statement.
The court vacated NMFS’s opinion as of December, 2024, meaning operations can continue on as they have been until then. That gives the agency roughly four months to write a new biological opinion that will provide the protections legally required.
The National Ocean Industries Association, an industry advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., issued a statement in which they urged NMFS to quickly issue a new biological opinion.
“We are deeply disappointed in the order. The disruptive consequences to the Gulf of Mexico states and U.S. economy cannot be understated if the federal agencies fail to timely issue a new biological opinion.”
Chris Eaton, a senior attorney with Earth Justice, said in a statement that NMFS now has the opportunity to “fix the biological opinion’s flaws and provide the Rice’s whale and other species the protections they need to survive and thrive. If the service does its job right, the end result will be better for Gulf communities and species,” he said.
Banner image: courtesy of NOAA Fisheries
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