WASHINGTON, United States — Most populations of humpback whales are no longer on the US endangered species list thanks to international conservation efforts, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Tuesday. Separately managing humpback whale populations that are largely independent of each other allows us to tailor conservation approaches for each population.”ADVERTISEMENTREAD: Humpbacks lure whale watchers to Babuyan | WATCH: Whales play with dolphins in ‘game of tag’After commercial whaling severely reduced populations, the US listed all humpback whales as endangered in 1970. The US Marine Mammal Protection Act that protects all marine mammals within US waters still applies to all whales, regardless of endangered status. In 2010 NOAA launched an extensive review of the status of humpback whales that resulted in the reclassification of the species into 14 distinct populations. In 2015 NOAA proposed to remove 10 of those 14 groups off the endangered list and gave the public 90 days to comment on the proposed change before finalizing its decision.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer September 06, 2016 23:37 UTC