Rice’s whales predate modern humans. Now Trump could make them extinct

Left: Three rostral ridges in front of the paired blowhole of a Rice’s whale. Middle: Fossil fuel drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico at Fort Morgan, Alabama. Right: Rice's whale dorsal fin. Composite: NOAA Fisheries, UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images View image in fullscreen Left: Three rostral ridges in front of the paired blowhole of a Rice’s whale. Middle: Fossil fuel drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico at Fort Morgan, Alabama. Right: Rice's whale dorsal fin. Composite: NOAA Fisheries, UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Rice’s whales predate modern humans. Now Trump could make them extinct The US has invoked national security to remove protections for the endangered cetacean, of which only about 50 are left S ince before modern humans existed Rice’s whales have been diving to the depths of the ocean to gorge on fat-rich fish while growing to leviathan proportions, their bodies spanning the length of a bus and weighing as much as as six elephants. Unfortunately for these grand creatures, their only home became a patch of the Gulf of Mexico that the oil and gas industry, much later, became highly interested in for drilling. Only about 50 of these baleen whales still exist on Earth, surrounded by clanging aquatic highways of boats and shifting drilling infrastructure. Last week, unbeknown to the cetaceans , an existential moment arrived when the Trump administration made the extraordinary decision to scrap all protections for the Rice’s whale, along with other endangered marine life in the gulf, in service of an industry that has facilitated the overheating of our oceans and our atmosphere . It may result in the first extinction of a whale species in North American waters in 300 years. “Nothing surprises me with this administration but if I was still capable of shock, this would do it,” said Pat Parenteau, an environmental law expert at the Vermont Law School. View image in fullscreen A Rice’s whale surfaces in the Gulf of Mexico. Photograph: NOAA Fisheries via AP “‘Unprecedented’ is too mild a term for it – it’s beyond belief. Donald Trump likes being first and if this is upheld he will be the first president to make the conscious decision to make a whale extinct. It will happen before our very eyes. What a black mark on our legacy that would be.” At a closed-door meeting at the Department of Interior that lasted barely 15 minutes, six Trump administration officials on Tuesday agreed to exempt the oil and gas industry from complying with endangered species laws in the Gulf of Mexico. The panel formed under a rare gathering called the Endangered Species Committee, more informally named the “God Squad” because it essentially holds the power to decide whether a species lives or dies. It has only been convened three times, and not since 1992, when logging was allowed in the Oregon habitat of the northern spotted owl. Usually, a complaint from a state or business triggers lengthy reviews before a God Squad hearing. But in this case,