NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) — Scientists and advocates will host a forum to discuss threats facing North Atlantic right whales.

The discussion will mark the one-year countdown to the expiration of the Right Whale Ship Strike Reduction Rule. The rule was enacted in 2008 and requires vessels greater than 65 feet in length to slow to 10 knots in specific areas seasonally. The advocates want the federal government to keep the rule in place to protect the whales, which were depleted to near extinction by whaling.

Groups participating in the forum include Whale and Dolphin Conservation, the New Bedford Whaling Museum, The Humane Society of the United States, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies.

The discussion is scheduled for Sunday at the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.