It is starting to feel like another day, another reason to sue in the name of protecting the Endangered Species Act. Turtle Island Restoration Network is proud to be in good company of conservations group that filed an intent to sue today, aimed at the Trump administration and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for reversing critical safeguards designed to prevent ship strikes in the Gulf of Mexico. With only an estimated 51 individuals remaining, the Rice’s whale faces an existential threat, and conservation groups argue that BOEM’s decision violates the Endangered Species Act.
For Immediate Release, March 20, 2025
Contact: Joanie Steinhaus, Ocean Program Director, joanie@tirn.net
Conservation Groups Plan Lawsuit Over Rollback of Protections for Critically Endangered Rice’s Whale in Violation of the Endangered Species Act
WASHINGTON, DC — A coalition of conservation groups announced their intent to sue the Trump administration for removing vital protections designed to shield the critically endangered Rice’s whale from deadly ship collisions.
Turtle Island Restoration Network, The Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, and the Sierra Club sent a formal notice to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) following the agency’s decision to revoke a 2023 “notice to lessees and operators.” The protections, which applied to oil and gas vessels, were reversed in February despite scientific evidence demonstrating their necessity. The groups are now calling for the immediate reinstatement of these safeguards.
“When big oil is present, the marine environment suffers,” said Joanie Steinhaus, Ocean Program Director at Turtle Island Restoration Network. “The Rice’s whale is coming face-to-face with extinction, it is all of our responsibility to ensure our future has them in it.”
The now-revoked guidelines advised oil and gas vessels to limit their speed to 10 knots while traveling through Rice’s whale habitat in the western and central Gulf of Mexico. They also recommended avoiding the area at night and during periods of low visibility, similar to existing measures in place for the eastern Gulf. BOEM had initially issued the expanded protections after new research confirmed that Rice’s whales are regularly found across the entire Gulf, not just in its eastern waters.
The legal notice argues that BOEM’s rollback violates the Endangered Species Act. The agency justified its decision as part of Secretary Burgum’s Order ‘Unleashing American Energy’, offering no further explanation.
With an estimated population of just 51 individuals, the Rice’s whale is one of the most endangered marine mammals on Earth. Found exclusively in the Gulf of Mexico, the species faces relentless threats from ship strikes, noise pollution and oil spills, making immediate action critical to its survival.
For more information on the Turtle Island Restoration Network, visit www.seaturtles.org.
Turtle Island Restoration Network is a global ocean conservation nonprofit with offices in California and Texas, whose mission is to inspire and mobilize people around the world to protect marine biodiversity, the oceans and watersheds that sustain all life on Earth.
