Humpbacks are back in the harpoon sights of Japanese whalers ng.com image:35172:1::0

Environmentalists have been raising concerns over the critically endangered Northern Atlantic right whale for last several years. Finally, It appears that the U.S. government is taking some measures to protect the whales whose population had got reduced to just over 300. A study had shown that about one to two right whales died in collisions with ships each year between 1997 to 2001.

According to a rule unveiled on Monday, Bush administration wants speed limit of 11.5 miles per hour (10 knots) within 23 miles (20 nautical miles) of major mid-Atlantic ports for commercial ships during the migration season of whales.The law also includes measures like passive acoustics in order to track whales which migrate from Florida to New England every year.

Environmentalists said the law is not going to help in protecting the critically endangered species. According to them, the slow speed zone of 20 nautical miles is not enough to protect whales.

Francesca Grifo, a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental group said

Again, we’re putting the science aside. Certainly, there are corporate factors here that would prefer to see a less restrictive rule. What we have seen over and over again where economics and partisanship and political interests bump up against the science, science loses.

But, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) administrator Conrad Lautenbacher said he hopes the law will significantly reduce whale deaths.

Our scientific analysis shows that a 10-knot speed limit in critical areas will significantly reduce the threat to these endangered marine mammals.