Comment from Anonymous
Anonymous AnonymousOpposeIndividual
Summary: The commenter opposes the status review of the Rice's Whale, arguing that it is a move to reduce protections for a critically endangered species to benefit the fossil fuel industry. They characterize the action as a threat to the species' survival and a violation of the Endangered Species Act.
NOAA-NMFS-2026-1222 Initiation of a Status Review for the Rice's Whale and Request for Information
To the National Marine Fisheries Service:
I object to this rule change on moral, ethical, environmental grounds.
In 2021, Rice's Whale was determined to be a distinct whale species. With less than 100 individuals in existence, Rice's Whale is considered critically endangered. In this administration's desire to pander to the fossil industry, it has been whittling away protections for this ocean mammal.
Now, the Endangered Species Committee (ESC), is killing whales by invoking National Security. All fossil fuel activity in the Gulf of Mexico has been exempted from the following the mandates of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This action has put Rice's Whale, whose primary habitat lies within the Gulf of Mexico, at extreme risk of extinction.
To make completely sure the fossil fuel industry is not inconvenienced in any way, Donald Trump's and the ESC want to further reduce protections for this critically endangered species by reconsidering whether they are entitled to any protection by the ESA at all.
It is the ESC's job to protect endangered species, not force them into extinction at the behest of corporate polluters like the fossil fuel industry. It would be nothing short of criminal for if the ESC was to neglect doing everything within its power to protect Rice's Whales from extinction.