Speeding ships killing endangered right whales, study finds published : 22 Jul 2021 at 09:45 A North Atlantic right whale swims in the waters of Cape Cod Bay near Provincetown, Massachusetts. WASHINGTON: Most vessels are exceeding speed limits in areas designated to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales, of which only around 360 remain, a report said Wednesday. The non-profit organization Oceana analyzed ship and boat speeds from 2017 to 2020 in speed zones established by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) along the US Atlantic coast. Non-compliance was as high as almost 90 percent in mandatory speed zones, while non-cooperation was as high as almost 85 percent in the voluntary areas, the study found.