Most Humpback Whales Taken Off Endangered Species List

Nine of these populations, including whales that breed in Hawaii, Australia, and the West Indies, are now regarded as sufficiently recovered and no longer in need of the protection under the Endangered Species Act.

“We believe that we have conducted a very thorough scientific assessment”, says Angela Somma, chief of the endangered species division at the agency, also known as NOAA Fisheries. But a moratorium was passed in 1966, effectively banning whaling – and this was the key turning point for the whales.

For more information on humpback whales and efforts to protect them, visit the NOAA Fisheries website.

The United States lifted protection for most humpback whales around the globe on Tuesday, including some in American waters, based on evidence they have made a strong comeback since commercial whaling drove them to near extinction.

While the government acknowledges that threats remain for humpback whales, it cites some populations’ increases to justify delisting.

“Today’s news is a true ecological success story”, Eileen Sobeck, assistant administrator for fisheries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in a statement.

Under the new decision, humpback populations in the Arabian Sea, Cape Verde Islands/Northwest Africa, western north Pacific, and Central America remain listed as endangered. All humpback whales remain protected in US waters and on the high seas under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, regardless of their ESA status. The Mexico population of humpbacks labeled as threatened feed in Southeast Alaska waters.

Humpback whales that frequent California, the Pacific north-west, Mexico and Central America will continue to receive Endangered Species Act protections.

Still, Tuesday’s announcement served as a dramatic milepost in the decades-long effort to restore humpbacks and other whales that were hunted nearly to extinction by the mid-20th century.

For example, officials have filed regulations to ensure that vessels around Hawaii and Alaska continue to maintain a safe distance from the whales.

Humpbacks in California and other parts of the world are no longer hunted, but still face threats including ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear.

Some humpback whales that feed in Alaska each summer are being taken off the endangered species list, but others will stay on it.

While humpback whales and giant pandas still face threats in the wild, they have proven that conservation and protection work in stabilizing a population. NOAA had hoped it was sufficiently recovered to remove from the list, but discovered that there are only about 3200 animals in this population, about half of what scientists thought.