![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/25-0407-s2p-savelbi-whale-800x600.jpg\")
Image caption: The critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. Credit: Save LBI (generated with AI tools).<\/em><\/p>\n
With a population that has dwindled to 340, the magnificent right whale is perilously close to extinction and faces a new, greater and ominous threat from numerous proposed offshore wind-turbine complexes up and down the East Coast.<\/p>\n
Save LBI\u2019s 234-page petition seeks to establish a migratory corridor as a critical habitat that would provide a vital \u201cmissing link\u201d between critical habitats the NMFS designated in 1994, and later expanded, to protect the right whale\u2019s feeding grounds off the coast of Maine (and New England) and its calving grounds off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina. No habitat protections currently exist between these areas in the far north and south, putting the whale\u2019s survival at great risk.<\/p>\n
Central to the petition is the call to prohibit offshore wind development within the proposed protected zone <\/strong>and to establish a buffer that would allow noise from any nearby wind turbines to dissipate and drop below levels known to disturb the whales.<\/p>\n \u201cRestricting the development of offshore wind projects in the migration path of the North Atlantic right whale is crucial to preventing its extinction,\u201d explained Bob Stern, president and co-founder of Save LBI. \u201cOur petition defines the whale\u2019s primary historic migration corridor and presents calculations showing how operational noise from the numerous proposed offshore wind turbine complexes will at a minimum seriously impair and potentially block its annual migration. Without a protected migration corridor and a prohibition on wind complexes in its path, the North Atlantic right whale will not survive<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Save LBI data reveals that nearly 80 percent of NARW deaths between 2000 and 2020 occurred within the proposed critical habitat migration corridor \u2014 even though vessel speed-restriction zones have been in place since 2008.<\/p>\n \u201cSadly, all efforts to date have not reversed the decline of the right whale,\u201d emphasized Stern, an experienced Ph.D. engineer who managed the U.S. Department of Energy office overseeing environment protection related to energy programs. \u201cThe threat is real. The Atlantic Shores South and North projects less than 9 miles off the coast of southern New Jersey, and others like it, are sited directly in the whale\u2019s migratory path, which will accelerate and ultimately seal its extinction unless we act.\u201d (For more on the Atlantic Shores projects and Save LBI\u2019s actions related to those projects, click here: https:\/\/www.savelbi.org\/press-releases<\/a>.)<\/p>\n The Save LBI petition also seeks new federal rules that would:<\/strong><\/p>\n Pending the outcome of a rulemaking decision, the Save LBI petition further aims to preserve the proposed migration corridor in the interim by:<\/p>\n NARW: A National Treasure<\/strong><\/p>\n The North Atlantic right whale, also known as the “urban whale,” is one of the largest and longest living animals on earth. This storied creature spends most of its life within 50 miles of the Atlantic coast as it moves gracefully between feeding grounds to the north and calving areas in the south, returning to the same locations annually thanks to its uncanny sense of navigation. Marine mammal migration is one of the great wonders of the world \u2014 especially when it involves a rare species such as the NARW \u2014 and public fascination is high, which explains the popularity of \u201cwhale watching\u201d tours and town festivals up and down the East Coast as well as a preponderance of academic studies devoted to whales. Given a tiny population, every right whale saved is a step toward recovery, and every one lost, a step toward extinction \u2014 which is why Save LBI\u2019s well-tailored legal protections are so important.<\/p>\n The Struggle for Survival <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cFor centuries, humans have failed the North Atlantic right whale \u2014 first through near-eradication from whaling and, more recently, through narratives that downplay the risk of offshore wind projects,\u201d said lead researcher and Save LBI board member Denise Boccia.<\/p>\n \u201cThe National Marine Fisheries Service and BOEM have approved projects based on flawed and unsupported assumptions that significantly underestimate impacts, while major environmental organizations that protest similar impacts from oil and gas development remain silent or supportive, apparently mistakenly believing offshore wind offers discernible climate benefits. It does not,\u201d Boccia continued. \u201cUniversity researchers who once voiced concern now appear content to pursue grant-funded projects. As a result, the responsibility to act falls to us, and to other groups and people who care about the many resources and natural treasures the ocean has to offer \u2014 including the endangered North Atlantic right whale.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSave LBI believes its petition provides a sensible approach to protecting the right whale from extinction, while restricting wind turbines from places where they obviously do not belong. Because the proposed migration corridor is relatively close to shore, the turbine prohibitions would also protect shore tourism industries, and avoid interference with our land-based air-defense radar systems. If we as a society want to save the North Atlantic right whale species from extinction, the migratory critical habitat designation is crucial,\u201d Stern concluded.<\/p>\n \u201cReaders are encouraged to express their support for the NARW migratory corridor petition to The White House, the Department of Commerce, and Department of the Interior.\u201d<\/p>\n Contact information is listed below:<\/p>\n :: The White House<\/strong> :: Douglas Burgum, Secretary<\/strong> :: Howard Lutnick, Secretary<\/strong> About Save LBI<\/strong> Contact: https:\/\/www.savelbi.org\/contact<\/a><\/p>\n For more information click here: https:\/\/www.savelbi.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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\n1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
\nWashington, DC 20500
\nwhitehouse.gov\/contact<\/a><\/p>\n
\nU.S. Department of the Interior<\/strong><\/a>
\n1849 C Street, NW, MS-4106
\nWashington D.C. 20240
\n(202) 208-3100
\nx.com\/interior<\/a>
\nfacebook.com\/USInterior<\/a>
\nEmail: Interior_Press@ios.doi.gov<\/a><\/p>\n
\nU.S. Department of Commerce<\/strong><\/a>
\n1401 Constitution Ave, NW
\nWashington D.C. 20230
\nx.com\/commercegov<\/a>
\nfacebook.com\/Commercegov\/<\/a>
\nEmail: PublicAffairs@doc.gov<\/a><\/p>\n
\nSave Long Beach Island (Save LBI) is an organization of citizens and businesses on and off the Island working together to protect the ocean and Long Beach Island and neighboring communities from the destructive impact of the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind projects and potentially other offshore wind projects. As a not-for-profit, non-partisan entity, we do not endorse any political candidates but vigorously pursue policies and actions that protect the Island and New Jersey communities. The organization is led by Beach Haven resident Bob Stern, a Ph.D. engineer with experience in environmental law who previously managed the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s office overseeing environment protection related to energy programs and projects. Visit SaveLBI.org for more information.<\/p>\n
![https:\/\/www.Send2Press.com\/300dpi\/25-0407-s2p-savelbi-whale-300dpi.jpg<\/a><\/p>\nImage caption: The critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. Credit: Save LBI (generated with AI tools).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONG BEACH ISLAND, N.J., April 8, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Save LBI, the non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting our oceans from the destructive impacts of offshore wind projects, has filed a petition urging the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC)\/National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and Department of the Interior (DOI)\/Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to create a safe migration corridor from Maine to Georgia that will allow the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (NARW) to survive as a species. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9891,"featured_media":125361,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[365,12804,682,48,173],"tags":[20322,20181],"class_list":["post-125378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environmental-news","category-ap","category-boating-marine-news","category-government-news","category-new-jersey-news","tag-north-atlantic-right-whale","tag-offshore-wind-development","has-post-title","has-post-date","no-post-category","no-post-tag","no-post-comment","has-post-author"],"acf":[],"views":4497,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9891"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125378"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125383,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125378\/revisions\/125383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/www.Send2Press.com\/300dpi\/25-0407-s2p-savelbi-whale-300dpi.jpg\"){kind=link}