I am writing today not about my departure from “Law & Order,” but about something far more significant — the threatened extinction of a rare and precious animal.
This is an open-and-shut case. North Atlantic right whales are on the verge of disappearing. We know what’s killing them, and we know how to stop it, but our government is doing nothing.
Their slow swimming and tendency to remain near the surface made them the “right” whale to kill, their very name an ominous foreshadowing of their fate. Today, only around 356 remain. Unless something changes, we could see them go extinct in our lifetime.
This is their calving season, a time that should represent hope and celebration of new life. Instead, our East Coast is becoming a right whale graveyard.
Two right whales, including a calf found dead this month and a juvenile female found dead in February, were discovered off Georgia’s coast after being killed by boat strikes. Last year, a male right whale was struck by a boat and found dead off Virginia Beach. Three years ago, a female right whale named Infinity and her calf were maimed by a boat — the calf died from its injuries.
This needs to stop.
The loss of North Atlantic right whales is a deep tragedy on its own, but we must also understand that our own survival is inextricably linked to all species on this planet. It’s been said that every extinction is like losing a rivet on a plane we’re all riding together. Losing one might not crash the plane, nor two, three, or even 10. But at some point, if we let the losses continue, things will fall apart. So it is with extinctions, which reverberate throughout ecosystems. Every species lost brings us closer to irreversible ecological breakdown.
The two primary threats to these whales’ survival are strikes from speeding boats and entanglement in fishing gear. While both must be addressed, one solution is available to us today, and it’s incredibly simple: Vessels just need to ease off the gas. The government has to make that happen.
In 2008 the government issued a rule establishing slow zones to protect North Atlantic right whales from fatal ship strikes. Sixteen years on, it’s clear they need updating. Many of the speed limits are only voluntary, and smaller but still-deadly vessels are exempt.
Imagine a school zone with “suggested” speed limits. Would you feel like your children were protected?
A 2023 analysis from Oceana found that more than 80 percent of vessels crossing both voluntary and mandatory slow zones were exceeding the 10-knot limit, and in every supposedly safe area, boats were clocked going more than 30 knots. That’s akin to a heavy-duty pickup truck blazing past an unloading school bus at highway speeds.
And so, predictably, whales are still getting killed. While the tragedies continue, an update to the rule to fix its shortcomings has been awaiting approval since 2022. To delay action is to drive these critically endangered whales faster toward extinction.
President Biden and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo are responsible for issuing the update to the vessel speed rule. They must release it immediately if these magnificent creatures are to have a chance at survival.
These whales matter. They’re beautiful, complex social creatures. People along the eastern North American coast treasure the chance to see their distinct V-shaped spout as they swim close to shore, which they do often.
Once, these were the “right” whales to kill. Let’s make them the right whales to save. Protecting North Atlantic right whales from boat strikes, and allowing their population to rebuild and even thrive, can be a historical success story — one that can lay a blueprint for protecting and restoring all of our ocean wildlife and ecosystems.
I may be done with Jack McCoy, but I’m not done pursuing justice and urging our elected leaders to do the right thing. I will rest when the government gets its act together and releases the updated vessel speed rule.
Sam Waterston is an award-winning stage, film and television actor and serves as board chair of ocean conservation organization Oceana.