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Hi John,
North Atlantic right whales are known for distinctive patches of skin on their heads that are as unique as fingerprints.
But they also stand out for another reason — a sad one: They're among the world's most endangered whales, with fewer than 340 left on Earth.
Please help us fight for these whales with a gift to the Saving Life on Earth Fund.
The number of individual North Atlantic right whales is declining dramatically. We've lost 30% of them in the past decade alone.
The primary threat to these creatures is human activity. Entanglements in commercial fishing gear can kill them outright, cause injuries and infections, or prevent them from reproducing.
Collisions with ships and boats are also killing right whales — especially mother-calf pairs, the whales most vulnerable to vessel strikes.
But there's hope. We won in court for right whales, so NOAA Fisheries must issue new regulations to save them from entanglements in lobster gear. And thanks to a petition and another lawsuit we filed, the agency has proposed a new rule to protect right whales from deadly vessel strikes.
Now we're pushing the agency to use its emergency authority to go further — by creating more seasonal vessel speed zones in right whale habitat, for instance — before it's too late.
Industry opposition has stood in the way of doing what needs to be done to ensure a future for these whales.
But we have science and the law on our side — and the will to make sure right whales don't become a tragic chapter in the extinction crisis.
We'll keep fighting to secure the protection right whales desperately need.
These whales have bounced back from the brink of extinction before, and they can do so again. We just need to give them a chance.
You can help with a gift today to the Saving Life on Earth Fund.
For the wild,
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