Save LBI Notifies U.S. Department of Commerce of Intent to Sue for Failure to Protect Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale

Save Long Beach Island (Save LBI) notified the U.S. Department of Commerce on August 9 of its intent to sue over what it says is a failure to protect the North Atlantic right whale’s primary historical migration corridor. The grassroots group plans to ask a federal court to compel Commerce to revisit a petition submitted to NOAA 16 months earlier, seeking designation of the corridor as “critical habitat” under the Endangered Species Act. NOAA denied the petition on July 22, but Save LBI argues NOAA ignored the Act’s 90-day review standard after initially denying the petition late and used an erroneously heightened standard. Save LBI filed a 232-page petition on March 31, 2025, and says the whale’s survival depends on ecological connectivity across its annual life cycle.