Dear NRDC Activist,

The last 50 Rice's whales in the world are fighting for their lives.

They're on the verge of being wiped out by the eardrum-rupturing noise of seismic airguns and ship strikes.

Fossil fuel companies fire seismic airguns almost endlessly in their rabid hunt for more climate-busting oil in the Gulf of Mexico. For whales that rely on their sensitive hearing to communicate, reproduce, and even feed, these dynamite-like blasts are deadly.

Appallingly, the Biden administration has done nothing to stop this acoustic onslaught. Time is running out, so today we're mounting the biggest public outcry possible to save the last remaining 50 Rice's whales from extinction.

Send your letter now calling on Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to ban seismic airguns and save one of the most critically endangered whales on the planet.

But it's not just the continued sonic assault that is threatening the Rice's whale. Because they rest just below the surface at night, these rare, beautiful whales are at risk of being struck by speeding vessels, causing severe injury and even death to an already endangered species.

And not only has the Biden administration continued the Trump administration's policies by allowing these existential threats to the Rice's whale to go unabated, but earlier this year the administration also auctioned off key areas of whale habitat to fossil fuel companies, and they are poised to greenlight even more seismic airgun surveys in the whales' narrow strip of habitat.

This comes at a time when scientists have warned that "the loss of a single whale threatens the survival of the species."

The final remaining 50 Rice's whales cannot defend themselves. It's up to you and me to defend them.

Take action now and tell Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to protect the Rice's whale from extinction. Urge her to ban seismic airguns and limit vessel speeds in critical whale habitats.

While the situation for the Rice's whale is incredibly dire, all hope is not lost.

Female whales are continuing to give birth, and studies show that measures like limiting vessel speeds can make a real difference for whale survival.

If the Biden administration wants to give whales a fighting chance, then it MUST put an end to the acoustic barrage that's drowning out whale communication and it must limit the speed of fast-moving ships that can kill and injure them.

But if the administration fails to act, we will lose the Rice's whale forever. It would be the first known human-caused extinction of a great whale species.

Please, send your letter today and demand that the administration act swiftly to save the Rice's whale from extinction by banning seismic airguns and limiting the speed of ships through critical habitat.

Thanks for making your voice heard. Together, we can help protect this endangered whale from being wiped out.

Sincerely,

Michael Jasny
Director, Marine Mammal Protection Project