8-27-2018
SEATTLE, Wash. — In a settlement with environmental groups, the Trump administration agreed to designate critical Pacific Ocean habitat for endangered humpback whales.
They face threats from getting tangled in fishing gear, oil spills and being struck by ships.
Three groups of humpbacks as listed as endangered or threatened and the National Marine Fisheries Service, which has departments in Seattle and Bellingham, agreed to designate critical habitat for the whales by mid-2019 and finalize those boundaries in 2020.