November 3, 2025
The Humpback’s Song of Recovery: Why We Must Preserve the Laws That Saved Them
The haunting songs of humpback whales once echoed throughout the North Pacific, in an oceanic symphony that nearly fell silent forever. Before a final moratorium on commercial whaling in 1985, all populations of humpback whales were greatly reduced, most by more than 95 percent. Today, thanks to two groundbreaking federal laws and with the help of a third, those songs have returned. The recovery of North Pacific humpback whale populations stands as one of conservation’s most inspiring success stories. Yet as these magnificent singers face new threats, the very laws that orchestrated their comeback are under threat. The humpback’s journey reminds us why we cannot afford to weaken the protections that brought them back from near extinction.
The Silence That Almost Was
Before commercial whaling industrialized in the 19th and 20th centuries, an estimated 15,000 humpback whales thrived in the North Pacific. These 40-ton acrobats, known for their spectacular breaches, complex songs, and long migrations, were integral to ocean ecosystems from Hawaii to Alaska.
But whalers prized humpbacks for their oil, meat, and baleen and wholesale slaughtered these whales in the 1800s into the 20th century. The humpback whales’ coastal habits and predictable migration routes made them easy targets. By the time international whaling conventions began to respond, offering protection in the 1960s, North Pacific humpback populations had plummeted to fewer than 1,500 individuals: a staggering 90% decline.
The ocean’s song was fading, and without decisive action, it would have disappeared entirely.
The Legal Framework for Recovery
In 1970, humpback whales were listed under the Endangered Species Conservation Act, and subsequently protected when the more comprehensive Endangered Species Act passed in 1973. The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 added another layer of protection, prohibiting the taking, harassment, and killing of all marine mammals in U.S. waters.
These twin pillars of conservation law accomplished what decades of limited international agreements could not. The Endangered Species Act didn’t just ban hunting, it required the federal government to identify and protect critical habitat, fund research and recovery efforts, and ensure that federal actions wouldn’t jeopardize the species. The Marine Mammal Protection Act established that marine mammals deserved special consideration as intelligent, socially complex beings essential to marine ecosystems.
A third law, the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, provided protection for large areas of habitat in Hawai’i and California. By creating Sanctuaries, this law also protects the coastal waters form oil drilling, bottom extraction, pollution and harassment.
Together, these laws created a comprehensive shield around humpback whales during their most vulnerable decades.
A Remarkable Comeback
The results speak for themselves. Under the protection of these laws, North Pacific humpback populations began a steady, remarkable recovery. By 2016, their numbers had grown to an estimated 10,000 individuals. That is nearly a seven-fold increase from their lowest point!
The recovery was so successful that in 2016, NOAA Fisheries removed most North Pacific humpback whale populations from the endangered species list, though they retained protections under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. One population segment, the Central America distinct population segment, remains endangered. This, and a decline in the Hawaiian and Mexican Population Segments between 2012- 2021 following an increasing trend, reminds us that recovery is neither uniform nor guaranteed.
Humpbacks returned to historic feeding grounds in Alaska’s rich waters following a long silence. Their songs once again filled Hawaiian breeding grounds each winter. Whale watching became a thriving industry, generating hundreds of millions of dollars annually and connecting people to ocean conservation. Children who had only seen humpbacks in books could now watch them breach off coastal shores.
This is what success looks like. This is what strong environmental laws can achieve.
The Unusual Mortality Event- Recovery Doesn’t Mean Safety
Despite their remarkable rebound, humpback whales remain vulnerable to a host of threats—some old, some entirely new. The laws that enabled their recovery are now essential for ensuring their continued survival in an increasingly challenging ocean environment.
In 2015, an Unusual Mortality Event was declared for humpback whales along the West Coast, stretching from California to Alaska. Between 2015 and 2017, dozens of dead humpbacks washed ashore—far above normal mortality rates. Many showed signs of ship strikes or entanglement, but others pointed to broader ecosystem disruption.
Scientists linked many deaths to “the Blob”—a massive marine heatwave that disrupted North Pacific ecosystems. Warmer waters altered the distribution and abundance of the small fish and krill that humpbacks depend on. When prey becomes scarce or scattered, whales must travel farther and expend more energy to feed, leaving them weakened and more susceptible to other threats.
While the initial Unusual Mortality Event ended in 2019, it served as a stark warning: even recovered populations remain vulnerable to rapid environmental changes, particularly those driven by climate change.
The Gauntlet of Modern Threats
Today’s humpback whales face challenges that persist despite their population recovery:
Entanglement in Fishing Gear: This is the single greatest threat to humpback whales. Each year, numerous humpbacks become entangled in fishing lines, nets, and crab pot gear along the West Coast. The thick ropes can cut into their flesh, restrict movement, and prevent feeding. Many entangled whales die slow deaths from starvation, exhaustion, or infection. Even whales that are successfully disentangled often bear permanent scars and injuries.
The Dungeness crab fishery, in particular, has become a significant concern. While the fishery itself is valuable to coastal communities, the concentration of vertical lines in the water during humpback feeding season creates a deadly obstacle course. Despite efforts to develop “ropeless” fishing gear and modify fishing practices, entanglement remains an ongoing crisis.
Ship Strikes: Humpback whales migrate through some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. The approaches to major West Coast ports—San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle—overlap with key whale habitat. Large cargo ships travel at speeds that make collisions devastating. When a 30,000-ton vessel hits a whale, the whale rarely survives.
Even smaller vessels can cause fatal injuries. As commercial shipping traffic increases and whale populations expand into coastal areas, the collision risk grows. Many ship strikes go undetected, meaning the true toll may be higher than documented cases suggest.
- Ocean Noise Pollution: Humpback whales live in a world of sound. They use complex vocalizations to communicate across vast distances, to attract mates, and possibly to coordinate feeding. Male humpbacks produce elaborate songs that can last 20 minutes and be heard hundreds of miles away. But the ocean has become deafeningly noisy. Commercial shipping, naval sonar, seismic surveys for oil and gas, and construction projects create constant background noise. This acoustic pollution can mask whale communications, disrupt feeding and breeding behavior, cause chronic stress, and potentially damage hearing. For animals that evolved to navigate a relatively quiet ocean, the modern soundscape represents a fundamental alteration of their environment.
- Climate Change: Beyond the immediate impacts of marine heatwaves, climate change threatens to fundamentally restructure North Pacific ecosystems. Ocean warming affects the distribution of prey species, the timing of seasonal events, and the productivity of key feeding areas. Humpbacks depend on predictable, abundant concentrations of small fish and krill in their summer feeding grounds. If warming waters cause prey to shift northward, scatter more widely, or decline in abundance, humpbacks may struggle to consume enough food during the feeding season to sustain themselves through migration and breeding. Climate change also increases the frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves, ocean acidification, and extreme weather events—all of which can cascade through marine food webs in unpredictable ways.
- Habitat Degradation: Coastal development, pollution, and marine debris affect both feeding and breeding grounds. In Hawaiian waters, where humpbacks breed and give birth, boat traffic, pollution, and habitat disturbance can disrupt these critical activities. In feeding areas, pollution and habitat damage can reduce prey availability.
- Microplastics have been found in the digestive systems of filter-feeding whales, though the long-term health impacts remain unclear. Chemical pollutants can accumulate in whale tissues, potentially affecting immune function and reproduction.
- Deregulation of the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Sanctuaries under the Trump administration. The Secretary of the Interior and members of Congress believe that because whales populations have recovered, we no longer need such comprehensive protections. They suggest that the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act impose unnecessary restrictions on fishing, shipping, and coastal development.
Tell Congress to Leave The ESA Intact!
Congressman Westerman (R-AR), as Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, has introduced the Endangered Species Amendments Act of 2025.
This bill would gut the critical protections that the ESA has saved 99% of the species listed and provided for thousands of imperiled species. It will upend the scientific review and evaluation process (which has been the cornerstone of American species protection for 50 years), and slow or stop proposed listings, while fast-tracking the delisting of protected species. It will also allow much more exploitation of threatened species and shift their management out of federal hands to the states, even while they are still nationally listed. This could remove protection of species on the brink and stop the progress made for otters, whales and great hammerhead sharks.
This argument fundamentally misunderstands what these laws have accomplished and can continue to protect these whales, and save other species if the laws remain intact.
The Song Continues
Every winter, male humpback whales in Hawaiian waters sing their complex, evolving songs. Scientists still don’t fully understand these vocalizations, but they’re among the most sophisticated acoustic displays in the animal kingdom. Each population has its own dialect. Songs change gradually over time, spreading from whale to whale like cultural traditions.
These songs nearly disappeared forever. Thanks to the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, they echo through the ocean once more.
But the humpback’s story is not finished. Their recovery is a triumph, but it’s also a responsibility. We brought them back from the brink. Now we must ensure they thrive in an increasingly challenging world.
Congress faces a choice: maintain and strengthen the laws that enabled this conservation success, or weaken protections and risk watching decades of progress unravel.
The humpback whales are singing. Let’s make sure those songs continue for generations to come. Let’s prove that recovery isn’t just about bringing species back—it’s about keeping them here, protected and valued, sharing the ocean that belongs to all of us.
The laws worked. They’re still working. And we need them now more than ever.
Sources
Cheeseman T et al. 2024vBellwethers of change: population modelling of North Pacific humpback whales from 2002vthrough 2021 reveals shift from recovery to climate response. R. Soc. Open Sci. 11: 231462.vhttps://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.231462
Zerbini AN, Adams G, Best J, Clapham PJ, Jackson JA, Punt AE. 2019 Assessing the recovery of an Antarctic predator from historical exploitation. R. Soc. Open Sci. 6, 190368. (doi:10.1098/rsos.190368) 8.
Bettridge S et al. 2015 Status review of the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) under the endangered species act. NOAA-TMNMFS-SWFSC-540.