WASHINGTON – Lawmakers expressed skepticism Monday at the allegations of two environmentalist groups that Navy bombing exercises in the Gulf of Maine could be endangering the protected habitat of the North Atlantic right whale.

Last week, the Humane Society of the United States wrote to the Navy and to the National Marine Fisheries Service, asking them to stop naval live bombing exercises taking place adjacent to right whale critical habitat in waters off the Northeastern United States. Another group, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, claimed that Brunswick Naval Air Station in Maine was conducting bombing exercises within the whale habitat.

John W. James, director of public affairs for the Naval Air Station, vehemently denied the accusation.

James said that the stations’ Lockheed P-3 “Orion” long-range maritime patrol aircraft aren’t even considered bombers. The planes occasionally use small underwater explosive markers, but the fighters always use sonar buoys to detect the location of whales, as well as fishing boats and other mariners, James said.

He added that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration regularly provides information on whale sightings to the base, which is then shared with pilots.

But Sharon Young, the marine issues field director for the Humane Society in Massachusetts, said the current system was insufficient to protect whales. She said that Fisheries Service whale-spotting planes can only go out in safe weather and don’t always see every whale, and the swimming speed of right whales can make the information out of date by the time it gets to the naval pilots.

The Humane Society said it has information indicating that Navy craft from bases besides Brunswick Naval Air Station had conducted bombing exercises near an area known as Sharrer Ridge, only about 50 miles north of critical habitat and 60 miles northeast of Cape Cod.

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said she had heard no complaints from NOAA or the Fisheries Service about the Navy’s conduct.

“Contrary to assertions by some groups, Brunswick Naval Air Station assures me it does not conduct ‘live fire bombing missions’ that threaten right whales,” said Snowe, a ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee’s panel on Oceans and Fisheries.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, also inquired about the environmentalists’ reports and said she found little evidence of Navy wrongdoing.

“According to the Navy, their last ordnance drop was on the 9th of May, well outside of the right whale area and well inside the area they’re allowed to do their exercises,” said Felicia Knight, a spokeswoman for Collins.

In a released written statement, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said the focus of the policies of both the Navy and the Fisheries Service should be on the survival of the whales – although he was careful to neither endorse nor express skepticism of the environmental groups’ claims.

“The survival of the remaining 300 right whales in the North Atlantic is in jeopardy even without these Navy exercises being conducted in the Gulf of Maine,” Kennedy said. “We need the Navy and the National Marine Fisheries Service to work together to do whatever is necessary to avoid any harm to the endangered right whales.”

A spokesman for Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, said the congressman was concerned about a provision in the House-passed version of the Defense authorization bill which would provide the U.S. military exemptions from environmental laws, including Marine Mammal Protection Act. The Senate rejected a similar provision last week – but that in this case, the military appears to be complying with environmental rules.

“There doesn’t appear to be any compelling evidence that the Navy is responsible for the death of any right whales,” said Mark Sullivan, an Allen spokesman.

On June 10, a National Marine Fisheries Service plane crew discovered the headless carcass of a right whale calf just to the north of the area designated as critical habitat for the endangered species.

“We have no idea of where or when the mortality occurred,” said Terry Frady, spokeswoman for Northeast Fisheries Science Center, the research arm of NOAA Fisheries in the region. “By the time we were able to get close to it, all that was left was a blubber layer with a few ribs.”

Frady added that NOAA has not found any right whale deaths that appear to be the result of Navy bombing exercises.

About 350 northern right whales are left in the Atlantic. The right whale owes its name to its plentiful oil and meat, as 19th century whalers regarded the whales as the “right” whale to hunt and harvest. It has been protected by international treaties since 1935.

The Great South Channel east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod Bay were designated as “critical habitats” for the northern right whale by the federal government in June 1994.

Also Monday, the Fisheries Service unveiled new restrictions on lobster trap and anchored gillnet fishermen in an area totaling about 3,500 square nautical miles in the Great South Channel from July 1 to July 15.

Fisheries Service Assistant Administrator William T. Hogarth stated in a Federal Register notice that the temporary restrictions were put in place after an aerial survey team reported a total of 75 right whales in two locations in the Great South Channel.