Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Fishing ban · United States · 2017–2026

North Atlantic right whale deaths and US vessel-speed rule withdrawal

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
People
  • 43 people died. not independently verified
    Dead whales within the 176 cases, known only through a reports of the NOAA page.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 7 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

NOAA maintains an Unusual Mortality Event page for North Atlantic right whales covering 2017 to 2026. A news report carried the headline that NOAA had withdrawn a proposed rule requiring ships to slow down.

176 (43 dead)Right whale cases in the 2017–2026 Unusual Mortality Event, as summarised in search results
Reported but not independently verified; see Unknown.

Status As of 2026: NOAA's Unusual Mortality Event page covers 2017–2026; a report of the withdrawal of the vessel-speed rule is on record, with figures not independently verified.

What?
A NOAA Unusual Mortality Event for North Atlantic right whales (2017–2026) and a report that NOAA withdrew a proposed rule requiring ships to slow down. NOAA Fisheries
Where?
North Atlantic; United States and Canada. NOAA Fisheries
When?
2017–2026. NOAA Fisheries
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The sources reviewed do not state NOAA's reasons for withdrawing the rule.
How?
The sources reviewed give no account of how the whales died or how the rule was withdrawn.
5 of 6 questions answered from the record · open: who

What happened

The record, in order.

NOAA Fisheries maintains a page for the 2017–2026 North Atlantic right whale Unusual Mortality Event in the United States and Canada.

WLOS carried a report headlined "NOAA withdraws proposed right whale protection rule", concerning a proposed rule requiring ships to slow down in the Maine and North Atlantic area.

The sources reviewed give figures for the whale population, the number of cases in the mortality event and the status of fishing-gear rules only through secondary summaries; these are listed under Unknown rather than stated as findings.

  1. 2017Start of the NOAA Unusual Mortality Event for North Atlantic right whales (2017–2026)
  2. 2025Population estimate published by the New England Aquarium and the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium (figure not independently verified)
  3. 2026NOAA Unusual Mortality Event page covers 2017–2026

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

    Recorded

    • NOAA Fisheries maintains a page titled "2017–2026 North Atlantic Right Whale Unusual Mortality Event", covering the United States and Canada.
      NOAA Fisheries
    • WLOS carried a report headlined "NOAA withdraws proposed right whale protection rule".
      WLOS

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
    No independent ecological evaluation

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.

    Figures

    • Insufficient Population: Estimate (+10/-9) from the New England Aquarium and North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, known only through a secondary summary.
    • Insufficient Ume cases: Cases in the 2017–2026 Unusual Mortality Event, known only through a reports of the NOAA page.
    • Insufficient Deaths: Dead whales within the 176 cases, known only through a reports of the NOAA page.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a 2025 population estimate of 384 North Atlantic right whales (+10/-9) from the New England Aquarium and the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, known only through a secondary summary.
    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: 176 cases in the 2017–2026 Unusual Mortality Event, of which 43 dead and 41 seriously injured, known only through a reports of the NOAA page.
    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the date and content of the withdrawal of the vessel-speed rule, known only through a reports of the WLOS report.
    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: that lobster-gear rules were frozen until 2028, with a required risk reduction of 90% against a current 47%.
    • None on record No statement from NOAA, shipping companies or fishing interests on the withdrawal is on record in the sources reviewed.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not established in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not established in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project✓ Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Government and regulators

    Press and investigations

    Communities and civil society

    1. Right whale population estimate 2025
      New England Aquarium / North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium · 2025

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Institutions

    NOAA
    The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which leads damage assessment for coastal and marine spills.

    Law and courts

    Trustees (natural resource)
    Government agencies that act on behalf of the public to recover and spend damages for harm to natural resources.
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