Standing Up for the Endangered Species Act

For more than 50 years, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) has prevented hundreds of species from becoming extinct, contributed significantly to species recovery, and consistently maintained broad public support. Aquariums and zoos support the ESA through scientific research, public education, and hands-on work to recover threatened and endangered species and their habitats.

With biodiversity in decline, protections for endangered and threatened species are needed now more than ever, yet the ESA is under threat. Congress and the federal government have put forward several proposals aimed at significantly weakening the ESA. Earlier this year, a rarely convened government panel called the Endangered Species Committee made the unprecedented decision to exempt fossil fuel development in the Gulf of Mexico from ESA requirements, citing national security and a need to increase oil and gas production. The Gulf is home to some of the world's most at-risk wildlife, including sea turtles, manta rays, sawfish, sturgeon, corals, and Rice's whales, which are on the brink of extinction with approximately 50 individuals remaining.

Offshore fossil fuel development impacts animals and their habitats in many ways through seismic testing, increased vessel traffic, and the risk of more large-scale disasters like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which continues to have devastating impacts on Gulf ecosystems more than a decade later. The National Aquarium alongside other Aquarium Conservation Partnership members issued a joint statement urging reconsideration of this exemption, which sets a dangerous precedent that will endanger wildlife and habitats around the country, along with our communities.

The third Friday in May is Endangered Species Day, a time to amplify the importance of policies that protect biodiversity now and for generations to come. The National Aquarium strongly supports the Endangered Species Act and the important protections it extends to plants, animals and critical habitats.