The Rice’s whale (Balaenoptera ricei) is found nowhere else on Earth — and fewer than 100 remain. We are fighting to keep them listed, protected, and alive in the Gulf of Mexico.
( Balaenoptera ricei ) — the only baleen whale that inhabits the Gulf of Mexico year-round, and one of the rarest on the planet.
Sleek and streamlined, the Rice’s whale has a dark grey upper body and a pale-to-pink underside, with a trio of parallel ridges along its rostrum. Adults reach up to 41.5 feet and weigh between 13.87 and 27.2 metric tons (30,578–59,965 lbs.).
American whalers likely first observed them in the Gulf during the 1780s. Marine biologist Dale Rice documented them in the 1960s — but initially identified them as the closely related Bryde’s whale (Balaenoptera brydei).
In 2021, new genetic evidence confirmed these whales are a completely distinct species.
A 2014 study had already flagged a unique lineage, but they were still treated as a Bryde’s whale subspecies. Today the Rice’s whale is recognized as the only baleen whale resident to the Gulf of Mexico, which is exactly why Operation Gulf Guardians exists.
A male Rice’s whale, and, in every practical sense, patient zero for what we now know about the species.
7003 (NOAA)
Male
November 2018
January 2019 — Florida Everglades
Witchhazel was originally identified as a Gulf of Mexico Bryde’s whale. After he stranded, his skeleton became the key specimen scientists used to demonstrate — in 2021, that the Gulf population is a distinct species: the Rice’s whale (Balaenoptera ricei).
Everything the world now knows about this whale, its range, its rarity, its legal protection, traces back through one animal.
With a population this small, researchers track whales one at a time, by fin notches, scars, and skin markings. A catalog ID is not a statistic. It is a name for an individual the species cannot spare.
An entire species clings to a single stretch of the northeastern Gulf. Its whole global population lives here, and nowhere else.
<100
Individuals remain
Among the most endangered whales on Earth
41.5 ft
Maximum length
A sleek baleen whale of the deep Gulf
2021
Recognized as a species
Confirmed a distinct lineage by genetics
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Gulf's only resident whale
The sole baleen whale here year-round
Rice’s whales favor deepwater habitat, particularly the undersea canyons of the northeastern Gulf at depths of 100–400 meters (330–1,300 feet). It is a narrow, crowded corridor shared with shipping lanes and oil rigs.
Their known range sits entirely within U.S.-controlled Gulf waters. The entire global population lives in one core habitat, so every threat there is a threat to the whole species.
Gulf of Mexico
A whale species described only in 2021, and already down to the last few dozen. Every one of them lives along a single shelf break in the northern Gulf.
Map layers
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Coastlines: Natural Earth · Habitat band schematic, after NOAA proposed critical habitat (100–400 m isobath)
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Fast-moving ships collide with whales surfacing to breathe in busy Gulf waters.
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Oil and gas activity, and its spills, degrade the only habitat they have.
See a stranded whale?
Keep the animal’s skin moist (avoid the blowhole), call 911, then:
Florida — FWC Wildlife Alert 888-404-3922 (*FWC / #FWC)
Texas — TMMSN 1-800-962-6625
Elsewhere — NOAA Southeast Hotline 877-942-5343
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Submit a public comment to NMFS before July 6, 2026 — it becomes part of the legal record.
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Get your state representative’s info and a ready-to-use call script.
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The Rice’s whale status review is open for public comment until July 6, 2026. Every comment becomes part of the official legal record that conservation attorneys can use in ongoing and future court challenges. Click HERE to submit yours. Tell NMFS what you know about the threats facing Rice’s whales, oil and gas activity, vessel strikes, the Deepwater Horizon legacy, habitat destruction, and the inadequacy of current protections. Personal statements about why you care are welcome; scientific references strengthen the record further. Comments received after July 6, 2026 will not be considered for this review.
With regards to the 5-year Endangered Species Act status review for the Rice’s whales (91 FR 24205; NOAA-NMFS-2026-1222) announced on May 5, 2026 by the National Marine Fisheries Service, we urge NMFS and NOAA to keep the Rice’s whales listed as Endangered under the ESA. Keeping them in that category is the only responsible course of action until total pre-human-exploitation population recovery is achieved.
The Rice’s whale exists in one place on the entire planet — the Gulf of Mexico. If we lose it here, we lose it everywhere. That is the whole story, and the whole responsibility.
See a stranded whale?
Rosel & Wilcox (2014). Genetic evidence of a unique lineage of Bryde’s whales in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Endangered Species Research, 25, 19–34.
Rosel, Wilcox, Yamada & Mullin (2021). A new species of baleen whale (Balaenoptera) from the Gulf of Mexico. Marine Mammal Science, 37(2), 577–610.
Additional Resources
Photo Credit
Rice’s whale “Ms. Clean” showing a clear view of the dorsal fin. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Laura Dias (Permit #21938).
