Hi John,

This year was a disaster for West Coast whales.

A total of 34 were caught in fishing gear — the most in six years. Since that data was released, yet another entangled humpback was spotted in water near Orange County, California.

The Center for Biological Diversity is doing all we can to protect marine wildlife and other species. Please help today with a gift to the Future for the Wild Fund. Thanks to generous champions of wildlife, all gifts through Dec. 31 will be doubled.

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Rescuers have so far been unable to remove the line wrapped around the humpback whale. Of the whales snagged by fishing gear this year almost all were humpbacks — 29. The others were four gray whales and a finback.

Gear entanglement can cause fin amputations, wounds, and painfully slow deaths.

NOAA Fisheries can only trace half of the entanglements to a specific fishery.

And this problem is not new. In 2017, after a spike in entanglements, the Center sued the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for not protecting endangered whales and sea turtles from the Dungeness crab fishery.

In 2021 we petitioned NOAA to require fisheries using the most dangerous equipment to switch to "pop-up" gear, much safter for ocean wildlife. Fisheries have endorsed the change — but the Service still hasn't given its approval.

It's maddening that agencies charged with protecting wildlife stand on the sidelines watching as these great animals die right in front of our eyes.

This is the core of the Center's work: pushing those in power to act with the urgency the extinction crisis demands. We speak loudly and carry a big stick — going to court when needed to save endangered and vulnerable species.

The extinction crisis is here, and animals like humpback whales can't wait.

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For the wild,

Kierán Suckling
Executive Director
Center for Biological Diversity

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