FR Notice Initiation of a Status Review for the Rice’s Whale and Request for Information

Isabella Piñón, representing the non-profit Turtle Island Restoration Network (TIRN), supports the status review and information request for the Rice’s Whale. The comment emphasizes the species' critically endangered status and highlights the need for robust conservation measures to mitigate threats from offshore oil and gas development, vessel strikes, and military activities.

The Prairie Hills Audubon Society, a volunteer-run nonprofit conservation organization, argues that the Rice’s whale should maintain its endangered status under the Endangered Species Act. They contend that the best available science confirms the species is critically small, genetically impoverished, and faces intensified threats from industrial activity and vessel strikes.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, representing a coalition of conservation organizations, supports the status review of the Rice’s whale while urging the agency to use the best available scientific data to maintain protections. They provide specific evidence on population size, demographics, and taxonomic distinctions to support the whale's status as a distinct, critically endangered species.

A coalition of oil and gas trade associations opposes the Rice's whale listing, arguing that the NMFS failed to follow proper regulatory processes and used non-scientific "conservation species" concepts. They argue that the Rice's whale does not meet the statutory definitions of "species" or "subspecies" as they were understood at the time the Endangered Species Act was enacted.

The Nature Conservancy provides scientific data and information to support the status review of the Rice's whale. They highlight threats such as vessel traffic, underwater noise from seismic surveys, and marine heatwaves, urging the inclusion of the best available science in the review.

The commenter is submitting a scientific research paper regarding the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on marine mammals. The document provides a detailed assessment of oil exposure routes, physiological impacts, and specific injuries to cetaceans in the Gulf of Mexico.

The commenter is a researcher from the University of Guyana who submitted a peer-reviewed academic review article regarding the impacts of anthropogenic underwater noise on marine organisms. The submission provides scientific data on how noise from shipping, seismic surveys, and drilling affects marine mammals, sea turtles, and fish, but it does not take a specific position on the proposed federal action regarding the Rice’s Whale.

The National Ocean Policy Coalition argues that the Rice’s whale should not be considered a distinct species and that its current endangered status may be based on insufficient scientific data. They provide evidence suggesting that the population is larger than previously estimated and that energy-related vessel traffic in the proposed critical habitat is relatively low.

Cecily Majerus, CEO of The Marine Mammal Center, opposes the initiation of a status review for the Rice’s whale. She argues that the scientific classification of the Rice’s whale as a distinct species is well-supported by rigorous genetic, geographic, and morphological evidence.

Alisha Wadhwa, a Digital Advocacy Intern, submitted a comment on behalf of 1,255 individuals urging the National Marine Fisheries Service to maintain the Rice's whale's status as a critically endangered species. The commenters argue that the whales require continued protection under the Endangered Species Act due to existential threats from oil and gas development in the Gulf of Mexico.