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For more than half a century, the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) has played a crucial role in safeguarding marine mammals from myriad threats—from entanglement in fishing gear to human-caused noise pollution—enabling many vulnerable populations to recover. Despite its success and long-standing bipartisan support, in late July, Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK) released draft legislation that
The damaging interactions between orcas and yachts off the Iberian Peninsula in Europe continued in 2025, shifting for the first time in years back to the north (rather than concentrating around the Strait of Gibraltar). The first interactions were reported in 2020—for six seasons, almost half of the 40 or so orcas who live in
This past October, AWI representatives attended back-to-back annual meetings of the Ropeless Consortium and the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium at the New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts. For four days, groups of scientists, policymakers, advocates, fishers, and educators gathered to discuss issues impacting the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, including the feasibility of
In March, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) sought public comment on the Makah Tribe’s request for a permit under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to hunt gray whales off the Washington coast. This is the final step in the government’s decades-long effort to allow the Tribe to resume whaling after nearly a hundred-year