Oceana and Earthjustice Sue Trump Administration Over Gulf of Mexico ESA Rollback — Rice's Whale Among 20 Species Stripped of Protections

Oceana announced on June 3, 2026, that it has joined Earthjustice in filing suit against the Trump administration in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia over a March 2026 decision invoking the Endangered Species Act's 'God Squad' exemption to strip federal endangered species protections from 20 Gulf of Mexico species — explicitly to facilitate expanded offshore oil and gas drilling. The species stripped of ESA protections include sea turtles (hawksbill, Kemp's ridley, loggerhead, and green), Gulf sturgeon, manta rays, and critically, the Rice's whale (Balaenoptera ricei) — also known as the Gulf of Mexico whale — one of the world's most endangered large whales with an estimated population of fewer than 100 individuals. The Rice's whale was formally named as a distinct species only in 2021 and is found exclusively in the northern Gulf of Mexico, making it uniquely vulnerable to oil spill contamination, vessel strikes, and seismic survey disturbance from offshore drilling operations in its entire range. Oceana and Earthjustice argue that the administration bypassed the legally required public process, used the God Squad exemption in an unprecedented manner, and that the decision will accelerate the extinction of already critically imperilled species. The lawsuit follows the Trump administration's backing of H.R. 8509 to delay new North Atlantic Right Whale rope regulations until 2035 — part of what conservation groups characterize as a systematic rollback of US marine mammal protections under the current administration. The case is seen as a critical test of ESA enforcement in the context of energy industry prioritisation.