And earlier in June the Trump administration opened the Northeastern Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, the Atlantic Ocean’s only fully protected marine sanctuary, to commercial fishing despite threats to the whales. A major factor in the right whale’s fate is climate change. That has significantly reduced supplies of the right whale’s primary food source, fat-rich zooplankton that thrive in cooler waters. But the Trump administration is reversing efforts to combat climate change, and is loath to impose new restrictions on the already embattled industry. Emails released to PEER under public record laws show the Trump administration also has tried to avoid bad publicity about entangled whales.

Source: International New York Times July 09, 2020 13:08 UTC