Environmental Issues: Wildlife

Wildlife Main Page

All Documents in Wildlife Tagged species protection

End Commercial Whaling
Renegade whale hunting threatens the survival of endangered species around the world
Overview

Whales are still being killed across the world's oceans -- despite an international ban on commercial whaling -- by countries that exploit loopholes and label their hunts as "scientific research."

Laguna San Ignacio Gray Whale Nursery
Photo Album

Laguna San Ignacio in Baja California, Mexico is best known as winter home to the gray whale. Every year the whales migrate over 10,000 miles from their summer feeding grounds above the Arctic Circle to the waters along the west coast of the Baja peninsula, where they have adopted the warm, shallow lagoons for their calving nurseries. Here they spend the months of December to March birthing, feeding their calves, breaching, and spyhopping.

Protecting Whales from Dangerous Sonar
NRDC takes the U.S. military to court to save marine mammals from underwater noise
News

NRDC has been fighting for more than a decade for prudent safeguards that would protect whales and other marine mammals from military sonar exercises -- eventually taking the fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Give Swordfish a Break
Conservation campaign helped restore North Atlantic swordfish and provided an example for future efforts.
News

After a two-and-a-half-year campaign led by NRDC and SeaWeb to restore swordfish populations in the north Atlantic, the federal government in August 2000 announced measures to protect juvenile north Atlantic swordfish from fishing.

Whale Songs in the City
Whales have been recorded singing near New York harbor, but noise pollution and shipping traffic put them at risk
News

Whales have been recorded singing near New York harbor, but noise pollution puts them at risk.

Lethal Sounds
The use of military sonar poses a deadly threat to whales and other marine mammals
News

Whales and other marine mammals face a grave threat from military sonar and other noise in the oceans. Manmade sound waves can drown out the noises that marine mammals rely on for their very survival, causing serious injury and even death.

Global Warming Threatens Wildlife
Climate change threatens species from your backyard to the Arctic.
Index

Global warming is pushing wildlife over the brink. From melting sea-ice throughout the Arctic to increases in infectious diseases and loss of food, evidence of the impacts of global warming on wildlife is mounting. This index collects fact sheets on global warming's effects on threatened species.

Porpoise in Peril
Help protect the most endangered small marine mammal in the world
Fact Sheet

NRDC is working to prevent the extinction of the vaquita marina (Phocoena sinus), the world’s smallest porpoise and now its most endangered small marine mammal. The main threat to vaquitas is the accidental entanglement in nets set for fish and shrimp that is exported from Mexico to U.S. consumers. Immediate action must be taken to protect this critically endangered porpoise. Get document in pdf.

Sounding the Depths II
The Rising Toll of Sonar, Shipping and Industrial Ocean Noise on Marine Life
Report

Ocean noise produced by military sonar, oil and gas exploration, and shipping traffic can have impacts on marine life ranging from long-term behavioral change to hearing loss to death. This November 2005 NRDC report reviews the science, surveys the leading contributors to the problem, and suggest what might be done to reduce the impacts of noise on the sea -- before the proliferation of noise sources makes the problem unmanageable.

Wildlife on the Brink
Overview

The Endangered Species Act is the best tool we have to ensure that future generations will inherit a nation of soaring forests, redrock canyons, lumbering grizzlies and tiny songbirds. Without its protections, we risk losing hundreds of species of plants and animals across the nation to pollution and private development. See our photo gallery of endangered wildlife and learn about the terrain they need to survive.

Lethal Sounds
News

Video about Whales and Active Sonar, Narrated by Pierce Brosnan.

Ocean Protection Case Studies
Marine ecosystems and fish populations are in trouble, but proven solutions exist to restore the health of the oceans.
Overview

Marine ecosystems and fish populations are in trouble, but proven solutions exist to restore the health of the oceans. These brief case studies illustrate a few and the results they can achieve.

Keeping Oceans Wild
How Marine Reserves Protect Our Living Seas
Report

Marine reserves are like national parks, and they are critical to keeping the world's oceans healthy and productive. This NRDC report demonstrates how placing important ocean areas off-limits is already reaping tremendous benefits, and shows how each of us can participate in protecting marine life and habitat for the future.

Priority Ocean Areas for Protection in the Mid-Atlantic: Findings of NRDC's Marine Habitat Workshop
Report

In September 2000, NRDC organized a workshop that brought scientists together to identify specific priority ocean areas in the mid-Atlantic for protection. This report summarizes the results of the scientific workshop in order to foster better understanding, management, and protection of marine species and habitat in federal waters of the mid-Atlantic. The report includes maps reflecting priority areas recommended by each participating scientist.

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