Agency Agrees to Protect Rice’s Whales From Offshore Drilling

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management agreed to implement safeguards to protect endangered Rice’s whales from offshore drilling and vessel strikes, according to a settlement agreement with environmental groups.

The deal pauses a lawsuit that claimed the agency failed to fully analyze the effects that offshore oil and gas drilling could have on endangered marine species in the Gulf of Mexico.

With only 51 whales left in the gulf, the population is especially vulnerable to vessel strikes and oil and gas seismic blasting—which can interfere with the sonar that the animals use to communicate, care for their young, and find ...