they made a remarkable recovery humpback whales, give us hope for the planet

In the depths of the sea, and out of sight for most of us is going a quiet miracle. Many humpback whale populations that previously destroyed by commercial hunting on the land, a return. And no, before you ask, this has nothing to do with the coronavirus. A recently published study of humpback whales that race off the coast of Brazil and call home Antarctic waters in summer has shown that these whales are now seen in the kind of numbers before the days of whaling to find. Data show that in 1830 there were about 27,000 whales, but after heavy hunting, left by the mid-1950s only 450 ° E ‘reassuring to see what happens when we let nature take its course. The ban on commercial hunting of whales in 1986 led to a strong recovery and now this population is thought around 93% of its original size. With the threat removed with hunting, and safe spaces to survive and thrive, humpback numbers have recovered in many areas. This is good news for whales, of course, but also for the climate. Keeping carbon from the atmosphere is the key to the climate crisis and the contribution to the meeting that a single whale can do is something that we must take seriously. On average, a single whale of about 33 tons of CO2 stores. If we consider only the Antarctic humpback whale that race in Brazil, to protect this population has led to only 813.780 tons of CO2 that is stored in the deep ocean. This is about twice the annual CO2 emissions of a small country like Belize or Bermuda, by 2018 emissions data. This is because when a whale dies, of course, exports carbon stored in his huge body in the deep sea, remains imprisoned by centuries. In 2019, even the IMF turned its attention to the surprising economy of whale conservation. Obviously, a big whale worth about US $2 million in total during his lifetime and GRID-Arendal organization goes as far as saying that whales are worth US $1 Katherine to the world economy. I had to during the last leg of Greenpeace year the privilege of seeing a prosperous journey pole to pole. I’m happy to say that whales in Antarctica are everywhere. My cabin mate, a teetotaler, woke up some morning with a “Wal hangover” upwards have also stayed late whales feed from the bow of our ship. When I was working and Whale Biologist, for decades, I always have the stories told by the old whalers in the communities they lived in the memory – from Shetland to the Azores, New Zealand and New Caledonia – where, back in the day, there were so many whales You can go directly across the bay on the back of humpback whales. Or so they said. My experience in Antarctica made me think of these stories, and it gives me hope that we can work to recover from other populations and species to enjoy for everyone, not just the privileged like me. Humpback whales are probably the most famous whale in the world and bring them the longest known migration of any mammal. And all of them are absolutely unique: the black and white spotted pattern on the underside of the tail is as individual as an imprint human fingerprint. Comparing our photos with a global database of humpback whales, humpback whale we identified 49 while on expedition Greenpeace. All whales are busy in their feeding areas and try to get fat. One of them used to be called, HW MN1300988 ‘known and now called’ I ‘by our team after our radio operator, whose birthday it was as if we were an exciting game. It was identified in 2012 off the Pacific coast of Panama and has been for three consecutive summer return Antarctic waters with direct evidence of how these whales photographed cover large areas of the oceans. These data can help us understand how to go far these magnificent creatures and they depend Ocean. Of course it’s not all good news. Some whales are still hunted. Some species, such as blue whale not yet recovered from the effects of the commercial hunting of whales. All kinds of interacting human threats caused – underwater noise, chemical pollution and plastic, ship strikes, entanglement in fishing nets, poor management of fisheries and climate change. It ‘hard out there for marine life. One of the humpbacks we had identified during our Antarctic expedition, HW MN1301140 ‘as a distinctive feature was only half a tail fin, possibly due to entanglement with fishing gear. The hump recovery in Antarctic waters is also an example of what can happen when governments come together to protect our global oceans. The moratorium on whaling was followed by the creation of “whale sanctuaries” and the Regulation on trade in species threatened with extinction. We have the tools and science. All that we lack the political will to create the spaces, wildlife, to recover. We know that the sea can be restored. Right now we are at a major turning point for the production happens: It is a big challenge, but we have so much to lose if we ignore them. A recent journal Nature suggests that if the oceans are protected, can rebound marine life in our life. Whales are an example, others are turtles, sea otters, seals and critics for the people fishing. Protection means well managed well connected network of marine protected areas, in the form of a global network of marine reserves covering 30% of the sea and allows marine life to thrive. The science is clear: this can happen, and it will work. Who knows if this is true all the old historical stories of humpback whales in any Coastal bay, but I find out excitedly.
Image copyright Abbie Trayler-Smith Greenpeace