Whales in Alaska will be more at risk to fatal ship strikes and entanglements after NOAA staff are forced to cut projects. The Whale Alert program is co-run by NOAA and Glacier Bay National Park; if cut, mariners will have no way of seeing which areas have had whale sightings. This puts the whales-

Many aspects of whale research are mandated by laws, including the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. All of the work I do as a federal scientist is regulated by the government and uses funding approved by Congress.

Conserving whales just became exponentially harder. Thankfully they aren’t the nitrogen pumps of the ocean, or the majority of food for the deep sea, or the center of billions of dollars in wildlife viewing, or a source of food for northern communities.

Someone should biopsy the staff at NOAA during this administration to have an amazing a stress study

Analyzing baleen can help figure out pregnancy rates, stressors, and even what the whales were eating!