Endangered Species Blog 1

 Blue Whales


Blue Whales are the largest mammals on Earth. Their long, slender bodies can grow up to 90 feet and weighing in at over 100,000 pounds. They get their name from their blue-grey color that appears as blue underwater. Currently, there are only about 10,000 to 25,000 blue whales left in the world. 

Ranging from subtropics to the Greenland Sea, Blue Whales migrate seasonally between summer feeding grounds and winter breeding grounds. 

 

According to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), "Whales are ay the top of the food chain and have an important role in the overall health of the marine environment. They play a significant role in capturing carbon from the atmosphere; each whale sequesters an estimated 33 tons of CO2 on average, thus playing their part in the fight against climate change."

Blue Whales were listed on the endangered species list in 1970 and the numbers continue to decline. The main reasons for this decline is because of the threats from vessel strikes, enlargement in fishing gear, whaling, and others like pollution and climate change. 


If Blue Whales were to become extinct, the population of krill (their main source of food) would exponentially increase. This would cause the populations of phytoplankton and algae would decease because that is the krill's source of food. All of this would cause an imbalance in the marine ecosystem. 

Southern Chile's Gulf of Corcovado is a big feeding ground for Blue Whales. This is also a place where there are salmon farms and industrial fisheries. The WWF is taking action to protect Blue Whales by using satellite tracking to track the routes the whales take to prevent interactions between them and salmon farms or fisheries. 



How YOU can help:
  • Be conscious of your carbon footprint
  • Use less plastic
  • Donate to the WWF or adopt-us.whales.org 
  • Sponsor a whale through the WWF or Oceanic Society
  • Support conservation programs

Sources:
https://www.worldwildlife.org 
https://www.fairplanet.org 
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/blue-whale#:~:text=Blue%20whales%20have%20a%20long,than%20other%20blue%20whale%20subspecies. 





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