Take action: the Marine Mammal Protection Act is under attack (USA)

Posted by SurayaThrowaway12@reddit | whales | View on Reddit | 7 comments

[Chugach Transients AT4 \"Paddy\" and AT9 \"Chenega.\" Photo taken by Emma Luck.](

On July 8, 2025, Alaskan congressman Nick Begich (R) introduced a draft bill amending the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). The bill, if passed, would severely reduce or remove existing protections for cetaceans and other marine mammals. The underlying purpose of this bill is to remove obstacles to the expansion of harmful extractive activities, like oil and gas extraction, in U.S. waters.

While Congressman Begich represents Alaska, the Marine Mammal Protection Act applies nationwide, and its weakening would have serious consequences for marine ecosystems and coastal economies across the country.

Congressman Begich’s proposed amendment would:

Strike down protections for poorly-known populations
Eliminate best-practice precautionary approaches backed by decades of science
Constrain the federal definition of ‘harassment’ so that it no longer prohibits actions with the potential to harm marine mammals
Require unreasonable or impossible data to estimate population abundances and design best practices for management

The two members of the functionally extinct Alaska AT1 orca population (also known as the Chugach Transients) in the photo represent a cautionary tale of what can happen when these protections fail or come too late. The safeguards from legislation such as the MMPA are essential to prevent other vulnerable populations, like the Southern Residents orcas, from meeting the same fate.

Now that this is established, how can Americans help prevent the bill from being passed?

The hearing date for the bill is July 22nd, so action should be taken before then.

For Alaskan residents:

Call the office of Congressman Begich and oppose the amendments and draft bill.

Anchorage Office: (907)921-6575

Washington DC Office: (202)225-5765

Please note: calling is more effective than emailing, as calls are more likely to be logged and shared with the Congressman, and taken into account when shaping his position.

For non-Alaskan residents:

If you live in the U.S. outside of Alaska, you can still make your voice heard by calling your Representative and Senators to express concern about this proposal. Let them know you oppose any effort to weaken marine mammal protections and urge them to defend the integrity of the MMPA. Use the links below to find your representatives and how to contact them.

Find your U.S. Representative
Find your U.S. Senator

You can find tips for calling your state representative, various suggested talking points, and scientific resources to cite in Orca Conservancy's article.

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FettuccineAlfonzo@reddit

These fucking ghouls

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FatherClankerRedux@reddit

I hate them all.

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MichaelSonOfMike@reddit

Disgusting. What’s more disgusting though is how little Americans care about this stuff anymore, they’re too worried about trans people and immigrants.

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SurayaThrowaway12@reddit (OP)

There is another thing I thought worth mentioning, as the Center For Whale Research has brought this up:

The House Committee on Natural Resources will hold a hearing on Begich's proposed bill to weaken the Marine Mammal Protection Act on Tuesday, July 22.

I have listed the various representatives on this committee below under their respective U.S. states/territories. If your local congressional district representative is on this committee, it is especially important that you call them if you have not already before July 22. You can find your local representative by entering your ZIP code here.

Washington

Representative Emily Randall - (202) 225-5916

New York

Representative Nydia Velázquez - (202) 225-2361

Maryland

Representative Sarah Elfreth - (202) 225-4016

Maine

Representative Jared Golden - (202) 225-6306

Puerto Rico

Representative Pablo J. Hernández Rivera - (202) 225-2615

Mississippi

Representative Mike Ezell - (202) 225-5772

Utah

Representative Celeste Maloy - (202) 225-9730

Representative Mike Kennedy - (202) 225-7751

North Carolina

Representative Addison McDowell - (202) 225-3065

Alaska

Representative Nick Begich - (202) 225-5765

New Mexico

Representative Teresa Leger Fernández - (202) 225-6190

Representative Melanie Stansbury - (202) 225-6316

Rhode Island

Representative Seth Magaziner - (202) 225-2735

Arkansas

Representative Bruce Westerman - (202) 225-3772

Virginia

Representative Rob Wittman - (202) 225-4261

Representative Jen Kiggans - (202) 225-4215

California

Representative Tom McClintock - (202) 225-2511

Representative Doug LaMalfa - (202) 225-3076

Representative Jared Huffman - (202) 225-5161

Representative Adam Gray - (202) 225-1947

Representative Julia Brownley - (202) 225-5811

Representative Dave Min - (202) 225-5611

Representative Luz Rivas - (202) 225-6131

Arizona

Representative Paul Gosar - (202) 225-2315

Representative Yassamin Ansari - (202) 225-4065

American Samoa

Representative Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen - (202) 225-8577

Florida

Representative Daniel Webster - (202) 225-1002

Representative Darren Soto - (202) 225-9889

Idaho

Representative Russ Fulcher - (202) 225-6611

Minnesota

Representative Pete Stauber - (202) 225-6211

Wisconsin

Representative Tom Tiffany - (202) 225-3365

Colorado

Representative Lauren Boebert - (202) 225-4761

Representative Jeff Crank - (202) 225-4422

Representative Jeff Hurd - (202) 225-4676

Representative Joe Neguse - (202) 225-2161

Oregon

Representative Cliff Bentz - (202) 225-6730

Representative Val Hoyle - (202) 225-6416

Representative Maxine Dexter - (202) 225-4811

Texas

Representative Wesley Hunt - (202) 225-5646

Nevada

Representative Mark Amodei - (202) 225-6155

Georgia

Representative Mike Collins - (202) 225-4101

Wyoming

Representative Harriet Hageman - (202) 225-2311

Michigan

Representative Debbie Dingell - (202) 225-4071

Representative Tim Walberg - (202) 225-6276

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Still-Ambassador2283@reddit

This makes No sense! There are already more known oil and gas fields than we can even utilize.

Something like 50% or all know productive oil fields currently leased aren't being used.

Why expand to more?!

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WhiteVeils9@reddit

To say they did.

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SurayaThrowaway12@reddit (OP)

The original post and call to action are taken from Orca Conservancy:

ACTION ALERT: Contact your representatives to protect the Marine Mammal Protection Act from weakened regulations. We have put together a page (link here) with additional information, contacts, suggested talking points, and resources. Hearing Date is July 22nd.

What’s happening: Earlier this week, Congressman Nick Begich (R-AK) introduced a draft bill amending the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the landmark federal legislation that has guided marine resource management and conservation in the United States for over fifty years.

The proposed amendment would:

Strike down protections for poorly-known populations, such as Alaskan killer whale populations

Eliminate best-practice precautionary approaches backed by decades of science

Constrain the federal definition of ‘harassment’ so that it no longer prohibits actions with the potential to harm marine mammals, such as resource extraction

Require unreasonable or impossible data to estimate population abundances and design best practices for management, which will hinder conservation efforts.

The MMPA directly mandates the sustainable management and protection of the critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales (SRKWs), their habitat, and their prey throughout U.S. waters. Under the proposed changes, marine mammals, including SRKWs, would no longer be protected from activities with high potential for disruption or injury.

This is especially troubling because we have already seen how a lack of regulations and protections can look. In 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil spill decimated wildlife populations around Prince William Sound. One of the hardest hit was the AT1 killer whale populations, a distinct group of mammal-eating orcas. With no calves born since 1984, and several individuals lost as a direct result of the spill, the group was declared depleted under the MMPA and is now functionally extinct.

Their collapse is a powerful reminder of what happens when protections come too late. Weakening the Marine Mammal Protection Act now puts other vulnerable populations, like the Southern Residents, at risk of the same irreversible outcome.

Alaskans can call Begich's office and voice their opposition:

Anchorage Office: (907)921-6575
Washington DC Office: (202)225-5765

Residents of other states can call their state representatives and senators to express their concerns about Begich's proposal.

Tips for Calling Your Representative:

Be respectful and polite in your comments, emails, or phone calls.
Get personal, share your experiences, and explain why you care. Personal messages carry more sentiment and weight, which are more meaningful and can have a bigger impact on policymakers.
Avoid pre-written scripts and copy-and-paste templates. New practices make it so that pre-written templates only get counted once. Meaning if multiple people submit the same comment, letter, or email, it will only be recorded once. Make it personal and unique to make sure it is counted.
Cite resources and relevant data that support your comment. Scientific publications referenced in public comments MUST be addressed by policymakers and make for a strong public comment.

Suggested talking points:

The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) is a cornerstone of U.S. environmental law and has been a global model for marine conservation. Weakening it would set a dangerous precedent domestically and internationally.
The MMPA has been instrumental in the recovery of several marine mammal populations. On the U.S. West Coast, sea lions, harbor seals, and other pinnipeds have rebounded significantly since the Act’s passage in 1972. This recovery has directly benefited Transient/Bigg’s killer whales (mammal-eating population). Their numbers have steadily increased in recent decades, thanks in large part to the protections and recovery of their prey species under the MMPA.
Marine mammals, including whales, dolphins, sea lions, and seals, play essential roles in the health of marine ecosystems that support fisheries, carbon cycling, and coastal economies across the entire U.S., not just Alaska.
Many marine mammals migrate through U.S. waters and play key roles in ecosystems across the country. Their health affects everything from food webs to ocean stability, and their presence reflects the overall well-being of marine environments we all rely on, including the communities, Tribes, and economies that depend on them.
The proposed bill undermines science-based management by requiring unattainable data thresholds before protections can be enacted. This ignores decades of research and opens the door to exploitation, not only harming wildlife but also the communities and future generations that depend on these resources.
These amendments threaten the MMPA’s long-standing use of the "precautionary principle," which is a fundamental safeguard when managing wildlife with incomplete data, as is the case with many Alaskan orca and cetacean populations.
Weakening harassment definitions would allow more noise, vessel disturbance, and industrial disruption in habitats already under pressure, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Northwest.
This draft bill is part of a broader trend to roll back environmental safeguards under the guise of “streamlining.” These changes benefit short-term industry interests at the expense of long-term ecological and economic health.
If this bill advances, it could impact how marine mammal protections are handled in other legislation and permitting decisions, from offshore drilling to Navy sonar use to renewable energy siting.

Scientific Resources:

Return of the harbor seal: The influence of the Marine Mammal Protection Act on coastal ecosystems. Jeffries, S. J., et al. (2021). Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Report.

Key Point: Since the MMPA’s enactment in 1972, many pinniped populations, once severely depleted, have rebounded dramatically, playing vital roles in nearshore marine ecosystems. https://wdfw.wa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/02579/wdfw02579.pdf

Killer Whale Use of the Inside Waters of Vancouver Island, British Columbia Scarff, Taryn M., 2024

Key Point: The increasing presence of transients in the Salish Sea is closely tied to the recovery of pinniped populations, which began rebounding after protections like the U.S. MMPA and Canada’s marine mammal bans in the 1970s. This highlights a clear predator–prey recovery dynamic. https://open.library.ubc.ca/soa/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0441015

The Marine Mammal Protection Act at 40: Status, Recovery, and Future of U.S. Marine Mammals Joe Roman, Irit Altman, Meagan M. Dunphy-Daly, Caitlin Campbell, Michael Jasny, and Andrew J. Read, 2013

Key Point: The MMPA has contributed to measurable recovery in many U.S. marine mammal populations, with more stocks increasing than declining. Species like northern elephant seals, gray whales, and Bigg’s killer whales have rebounded significantly under the Act’s protections. The paper highlights the MMPA as a global model for marine conservation, while also noting the need for continued support and modernized tools to address emerging threats. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236006172_The_Marine_Mammal_Protection_Act_at_40_Status_recovery_and_future_of_US_marine_mammals