Blue whale sanctuary or deep sea port?

Three years ago, I had the privilege of visiting Loreto, in Baja California, Mexico.

A friend and I made the eight-hour drive from La Paz, the capital of Baja. Why go that far? Because Loreto Bay is one of the last remaining sanctuaries for blue whales anywhere on this planet.

I’ll never forget the moment we saw a blue whale and her calf from our small panga. You think you understand how big they are, until you’re on a Mexican panga and they’re about 10x bigger and faster than your little boat.

During that trip, I also had the chance to learn from and write about the incredible work being done by the Whale Guardians, who are dedicated to protecting these animals by raising awareness on the largest whale killer on the planet: ships.

read about the whale guardians

I’m sending this newsletter out as quickly as possible because it has come to our attention that Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum, signed a decree last month reclassifying Loreto Bay from a federally protected Natural Protected Area to a deep-sea and cabotage port.

If confirmed and implemented, this would open the area to significantly increased maritime traffic, something that is widely recognized as a serious threat to whales in oceans around the world, and we need your help to stop this!

Loreto Bay is one of the few known seasonal feeding and aggregation sites for blue whales. Increased shipping activity in such a sensitive habitat is absolutely crazy for a population that is already under pressure. Loreto Bay should be highly highly protected as a unique safe haven for these majestic creatures…Not opened up to commercial ships.

This decision endangers one of the most ecologically sensitive marine ecosystems in the Gulf of California, and was taken without transparency, sufficient legal justification, or a comprehensive environmental impact assessment.

What is the point of blue whales being listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List, with the highest level of protection under global agreements for migratory species (CMS Appendix I) and of Mexico having signed the UNCLOS which states under Article 194(5) that it is obligated to protect the habitat of endangered species… If the President can so easily dismiss these obligations for commercial interests?

How is the media not jumping into the irony of this? Are these agreements really only on paper? If Mexico is really interested in protecting endangered species, wouldn’t the world’s LARGEST endangered species in its ONLY KNOWN seasonal aggregation spot be completely off limits to reclassify and open to whales’ worst enemy: SHIPS?

Scientists have been clear about the risks they face. Ship traffic is a major problem—collisions with large vessels are one of the leading causes of death for big whales. On top of that, underwater noise from boats can interfere with their ability to feed and communicate, sometimes even driving them away from important areas. Large ships, especially cruise vessels, can produce extremely loud noise underwater, adding to the stress.

So please sign and share the petition far and wide 🐋🐋🐋 We need less cruise ships and more blue whales traversing our deep blue!

sign petition