Center for Biological Diversity files suit to protect whales News
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Center for Biological Diversity files suit to protect whales

The Center for Biological Diversity [official website] filed [complaint, PDF] a lawsuit on Thursday against the National Marine Fisheries Service that seeks to protect the waters where Southern Resident killer whales live.

Previously, the Center for Biological Diversity has petitioned for the protection of these waters, and the Fisheries Service has agreed that this was necessary. However, the Fisheries Service also stated that it would not impose a critical habitat rule until 2017, and have yet to propose such a rule. The current complaint arises out of that failure.

In its complaint, the Center for Biological Diversity seeks an expanded critical habitat for the whales. This “will likely contribute to better habitat protections, such as reducing water and noise pollution, restricting vessel traffic, and improving foraging habitat.” As a result, “the chance of survival and recovery for Southern Resident killer whales” will increase.