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The US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is conducting a status review of humpback whales. Humpback whales have been a listed species of the Endangered Species Act since 1973. Since that time, humpbacks have not been a prime target of whalers and many populations are rebounding.

However, while WDCS does not dispute the need to conduct a status review, we do feel that humpbacks, as a species, should not be removed from the Endangered Species List. Not all populations of humpback whales are increasing and there is evidence that, in some areas, populations may be in decline due to human impacts.

When the Recovery Plan for humpback whales was published in 1991, climate change and offshore development were not even considered. Currently, 28 offshore windfarms are in operation in the North Atlantic with an additional 17 facilities under construction and, minimally, 34 more sites proposed. At least 10 offshore Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminals are in operation or proposed in US waters alone, and, as a result of the previous Administration overturning a 20-year drilling ban for oil and gas exploration and extraction in 2005, offshore lease parcels have already been sold. Each, on its own, may not seem significant, but the cumulative impacts to habitat must be reviewed.

Climate change and ocean acidification are no longer emerging threats. Changes in ocean temperature and pH have been documented and can directly impact the survival of humpback whales through the distribution of toxins and disease-causing organisms as well as impacting forage species.

In recent years, Japan and Denmark have both put forward proposals to the International Whaling Commission to take humpback whales. As humpback whales are not currently hunted, with the exception of a small aboriginal take in Bequia, current population data do not consider impacts from whaling.

Issues of pollution, habitat degradation, prey depletion and noise and chemical pollution must be factored in as well. WDCS believes that, based on available data and continuing threats, the species, in its entirety, does not meet the criteria for downlisting according to the Endangered Species Act. We have submitted our comments to NMFS and will remain vigilant in the fight to ensure protection for this species.

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