A bipartisan House bill introduced Wednesday would require NOAA Fisheries to conduct new research on whales to provide more accurate information about their core feeding and calving habitats as well as migration patterns.
The “Whale Conservation Habitat Analysis, Research and Technical Strategies (CHARTS) Act of 2024” from California Democratic Reps. Doris Matsui and Jared Huffman and Republican Reps. Nicole Malliotakis of New York and Vern Buchanan of Florida, would authorize $3 million and focus on eight species and subspecies.
It would pay additional attention on the sperm whale and baleen whales, whose scientific status is not fully known or outdated, according to the lawmakers.
The bill would require NOAA to create “predictive maps that forecast future shifts in whale habitats in response to changing environmental conditions, and conduct specific research on understudied baleen whale species,” according to a press release issued by Matsui’s office.
