1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Scientific Assistance for Very Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales Act of 2018 or the SAVE Right Whales Act . 2. Findings; sense of Congress (a) Findings Congress finds that— (1) North Atlantic right whales ( Eubalaena glacialis ) are critically endangered, with fewer than 450 whales remaining; (2) historically, the North Atlantic right whale population was decimated by the whaling industry; (3) despite protection from whaling beginning in the 1930s, the North Atlantic right whale is one of the most endangered whales in the world and has experienced a significant decline since 2010; (4) the North Atlantic right whale has been listed as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969 ( Public Law 89–669 ; 80 Stat. 926) and its successor the Endangered Species Act of 1973 ( 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) since 1970 and is designated as depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 ( 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.); (5) because North Atlantic right whales are long-lived and highly migratory, and at present rates females give birth to only a single calf once every 4 to 10 years, they are highly vulnerable to the impacts of human activity and habitat degradation; (6) North Atlantic right whales frequently cross paths with major shipping lanes and fishing grounds, leaving the whales particularly vulnerable to vessel collisions and fishing gear entanglements, the 2 leading causes of injury and death to the species; (7) even when North Atlantic right whales do not die as a result of fishing gear entanglement, those whales can still experience significant sub-lethal effects such as chronic stress and reproductive failure; (8) in August 2017, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced an Unusual Mortality Event involving North Atlantic right whales in 2017, with 17 known whale deaths that year alone