NMFS Denies Right Whale ESA Petition
On May 30, 2007, the National Marine Fisheries Service published its denial of a petition to list the global populations of right whales as a single species under the Endangered Species Act.

The petition was filed by the NGO Greenworld. The NMFS stated that it denied the petition for three reasons.

First, Greenworld provided no documentation or bibliographic references to support its assertion that global right whale populations are a single species.

Second, Greenworld did not provide information disproving NMFS' conclusion that there are three separate species of right whales based on past and present abundance, distribution, and threats faced by the whales globally.

Third, Greenworld did not provide information regarding the right whales throughout all or a significant portion of its range disproving NMFS' conclusion that there are three separate right whale species.