Statement from Jean-Michel Cousteau, President of Ocean Futures
Society on the Diablo Canyon Seismic Testing: Too Much Risk FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Holly S. Lohuis (805) 899-8899 x124 Gray
whales are whales that have changed little over the past 600,000
years yet one of the first of the great whales to face
extinction. It is a marine mammal with the longest single
migration and the most urban whale, passing some of the world’s
biggest cities, along some of the most polluted coastlines. In
the Pacific, the eastern population of Gray Whales represents a
conservation success story; their population is back to its pre-
hunting numbers of over 26,000 after almost being on the brink
of extinction just 75 years ago. Unfortunately the Atlantic
population was not so lucky, and has been extinct for over 300
years. But despite its protection under the Marine Mammal
Protection Act, the Pacific Gray whale and forty-two other
marine mammal species who are found off the coast of California,
face many human impacts, including