1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Scientific Assistance for Very Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales Act of 2019 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 approximately 400 whales remaining at the time of the introduction of this Act; (2) historically, the North Atlantic right whale population was decimated by the whaling industry, although the whale population received protections from such industry in the 1930s; (3) despite a modest recovery prior to 2010, 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 a single calf only 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