Carly Nairn

OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) — Two environmental nonprofits filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Marine Fisheries Service on Thursday, claiming the organizations haven’t done enough to prevent whale strikes in California shipping lanes.

The Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Earth filed the lawsuit for injunctive relief in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, asserting that the government agencies are responsible for analyzing and reducing noise and air pollution associated with large vessels around whale and sea turtle habitats.

“The population of leatherback sea turtles off the U.S. West Coast has declined to such low levels that more than one human-caused mortality every six years will impede its chance to r

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