The right whale has been protected as an endangered species since 1970. Despite warning systems and aerial surveys to locate whales in shapping lanes, only 300-400 right whales exist today. Since 1997, ship strikes have killed one to two right whales per year. In a hope to save the right whales from being further harmed, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Wednesday October 8th 2008 issued a 11.5-mile-per-hour speed limit for ships 65 feet or longer that travel within 23 miles of major mid-Atlantic ports, and in areas where the North Atlantic right whale breeds, feeds and migrates. The regulation will go into effect in December.
Government marine scientists had initially proposed a 34-mile-wide coastal speed zone around the ports. That recommendation was scaled back after the White House questioned the science linking ship speed to whale deaths.
The speed limit will be the first put in place to protect a species along the Atlantic coast. A federal analysis issued earlier this year said that the limit could cost the shipping industry millions of dollars in lost revenue. It would affect most commercial ships, including ferries, cruise liners and even whale-watching vessels.
To learn more about the right whales and help out visit http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.nero.noaa.gov/shipstrike/&usg=AFQjCNGLZSM9qYksz-yveYb7DFsFigkRAQ
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