Louisiana, Chevron and the industry trade association, AIP, sued the federal government for restricting the size of the upcoming offshore lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico to protect the remaining 50 Rice whales that cling to survival in the Gulf. An estimated 20% of the population was killed by the 2010 Deep Water Horizon drilling disaster.
The lease sale is mandated by the compromise Inflation Reduction Act. Industry claims the removal of six million acres from the sale violates the Act.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has also placed restrictions on vessel traffic in whale habitat, including a speed limit of 10 knots. The changes in the lease sale conditions are part of a settlement of a suit brought by conservation organizations in 2020 alleging Trump era environmental regulations to be insufficient. An industry spokesperson called the current lease sale a "lease sale in name only"
Rice whales are a comparatively new species,
once thought to be Bryde's whales. Genetic testing determined the whales to be a unique species,
Balaenoptera ricei. The whale is a highly selective feeder, making it vulnerable to habitat disruption. About 70% of its diet is the silver rag driftfish, a common schooling species in the Gulf. Whales expend a lot of energy diving 800 ft to eat their food. Rice whales are endemic to the Gulf of Mexico and are the most critically endangered whale on the planet.
