Facing extinction, the North Atlantic right whale cannot adapt. Can we?

[turbinetree]

Once the right whale to hunt, Eubalaena glacialis is now beset by nets, ships and changing seas. We are losing a beautiful beast

As if to confound everyone, this past week Dr Charles “Stormy” Mayo and his team from the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies reported seeing up to 150 right whales in Cape Cod Bay. Dr Mayo – who has been studying these animals for 40 years and has a scientist’s aversion to exaggeration – is stunned.


North Atlantic right whales may face extinction after no new births recorded
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“It is amazing for such a rare and utterly odd creature,” he tells me. All the more amazing since he knows this great gathering could be a final flourish. By 2040, the North Atlantic right whale may be gone. He hesitates, then uses the e-word: extinction.

How can such a huge mammal simply disappear within reach of the richest and most powerful nation on earth? Shifting food sources – due to climate change – are leading whales to areas where maritime industries are unused to them. In the past 12 months, 18 rights have died after ship strikes or entanglement in fishing gear. With as few as 430 animals left, 100 of them breeding females in a reduced gene pool, the species is unsustainable.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/05/north-atlantic-right-whale-extinction-cape-cod-philip-hoare

As a species we are really stupid with out whales we cannot survive..........

[RandomAccess]

1. ????

with out whales we cannot survive.....

Can you say more, explain that?

[turbinetree]

2. Whale poop.....................

https://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/til/161216-sciex-til-asha-de-vos-whale-poop


The ocean produces at least 50 percent of the Earth’s oxygen, and strangely enough, whale poop is the fuel that helps keep our oceans alive. In this episode of Today I Learned, Asha de Vos tells us why we should all say thanks to whales and their poop.

Certain species of whales dive thousands of meters to feed, but whales that feed on krill only dive hundreds of meters. While they might make it look easy, swimming under crushing pressures on one breath of air is quite a feat. Luckily, whales have a few tricks up their flippers. To help conserve oxygen, they’ll shut down certain bodily functions like digestion. This means that when whales surface to breathe, they poop, setting off a chain reaction that starts with the largest ocean inhabitant and ends with one of the smallest—phytoplankton.

By feeding at depth and pooping at the surface, whales transport vital nutrients to the warm surface waters. That’s where phytoplankton use the nutrients to photosynthesize and produce oxygen for us to breathe! So, every breath you take is a little gift from a whale’s butt.

PRODUCER/EDITOR: Laurence Alexander
SERIES PRODUCER: Christopher Mattle
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Elaina Kimes

[RandomAccess]

3. Good God. Who knew?

Amazing and wonderful. So glad I asked. Thanks.

[jberryhill]

4. Yes, but consider why there is no wrong whale - they were not as bright

[Duppers]

5. A big K & R

I've learned facts I didn't know, so thank you.

Been a longtime donor to GreenPeace and to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society - I like the SSCS aggressive tactics. Not only is polluted oceans killing whale species, but the Japanese are hunting whales to extinction, in violation of sanctions - but the US gov't will not say a thing to them!!


Thanks for posting this in GD where more eyes will hopefully read it. Too few read the E&E Forum.