Protections Making Whale of a Difference as Humpbacks Make Comeback

After more than 40 years, big news for Humpback whales. The majestic creatures, often seen off the west coast of the United States, are coming back strong.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association says that nine of the 14 distinct populations of Humpbacks are no longer endangered.

Eileen Sobeck, the assistant administrator at NOAA for fisheries, calls it "a true ecological success story.

"Whales, including the humpback, serve an important role in our marine environment. Separately managing humpback whale populations that are largely independent of each other allows us to tailor conservation approaches for each population.”

NOAA says that while the Humpback whales have made tremendous progress since first being listed as endangered in 1970, there is still more work to do.

Two of the four populations that are still endangered are the populations often found off the west coast of the United States - the Central American and Western North Pacific populations. The Mexico population - which also travels off the west coast from Medico to Alaska - has been upgraded to threatened.

NOAA also points to the whaling moratorium - imposted by the International Whaling Commission in 1982 - with playing a major role in the comeback of the Humpback.

This move by NOAA marks the first time the agency has removed a whale species from the endangered list since 1994 when the Gray Whale was delisted.

In making the announcement, NOAA also announced new rules to enforce protection of the Humpbacks off of Hawaii and Alaska by maintaining ships could not get closer than 100 yards to the whales.

The agency also said that "all humpback whales remain protected in U.S. waters and on the high seas under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, regardless of their ESA status."

Photo and map from NOAA