Over the weekend, the Coast Guard station in Venice, LA rather recklessly announced the following on Facebook: “CRITICALLY ENDANGERED SPECIES SIGHTING: Station Venice presents to you……. Rice’s Whale.” The Facebook comment captioned a 16-second video of the whales swimming nearby, reportedly in the Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico. The video was removed on Tuesday. CBS reported on the Facebook post but was unable to obtain confirmation from the Coast Guard.
Given the timing and significance of the Coast Guard announcement relative to Lease Sale 261, this was a massive report. However, we now learn that the whales were incorrectly identified. Both the Coast Guard and NOAA are confirming that the whales were misidentified as Rice’s whales and were actually sperm whales.
CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to reflect that Coast Guard officials identified the whales spotted in the Gulf of Mexico as sperm whales after previously identifying them as critically endangered Rice’s whales. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also told McClatchy News in a statement that they are sperm whales.
Miami Herald
Wow!
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 
Leave a comment