The federal government says it's extending a voluntary protective zone designed to help endangered North Atlantic right whales.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the protective zone in which mariners are asked to slow down is located south of Nantucket.
An aerial survey team sighted the whales in that area this week.
NOAA says the slow zone has been extended through Sept. 9.
Federal ocean regulators are also considering new rules to protect the endangered whales from fishing gear that would affect not only lobster and crab fisheries, but also those that use gillnets, traps and pots.
