Whales - The Saviors of the Earth

Whales are mesmerizing creatures known for being the largest and most intelligent in the ocean. The contribution of whales might amaze you as much as their closest evolutionary relations with the hippopotamuses. They are nature's biggest carbon capture plants. And the amazing fact about them is, each whale is worth more than $2 million. Hence whole Whale Community values over $1 trillion according to IMF.

Why whales are the Savior of the Earth?

When it comes to saving the planet, one whale is worth thousands of trees.

Whales accumulate carbon in their bodies during their long lives, some of which stretch to 200 years. When they die, they sink to the bottom of the ocean, taking the carbon with them. According to the study, each great whale sequesters around 33 tonnes of carbon dioxide on average. Their bodies are enormous stores of carbon, and their presence in the ocean shapes the ecosystems around them. From the depths of the ocean, these creatures are also helping to determine the temperature of the planet – and it's something that we've only recently started to appreciate.

When whales die, they sink to the ocean floor – and all the carbon that is stored in their enormous bodies is transferred from surface waters to the deep sea, where it remains for centuries or more.

A 2010 study posts that eight types of baleen whales, including blue, humpback, and minke whales, carry 30,000 tonnes of carbon to the bottom of the sea each year. Scientists also predicted if whale populations returned to their former glory this carbon sink would increase by 160,000 tonnes a year – that's the equivalent of taking between 40,000 and 410,000 cars off the road each year.

Whales shape and nourish the ecosystem around them in two ways:

1 Whale Pump

2 Whale Fall

Whale pump

Whales increase the ocean ecosystem’s ability to store additional carbon. Through the very process of swimming and diving as well as excreting feces, whales increase the level of nutrients on the ocean surface, notably iron and nitrogen, which in turn boosts the growth of phytoplankton and marine plants that generate energy through photosynthesis, and in the process remove carbon from the atmosphere. Thus whale functions as an upward biological pump hence called the Whale Pump.

Wherever whales are found, so are phytoplankton. These tiny creatures produce every second breath we take, by contributing to at least 50 percent of all the oxygen in our atmosphere. They also capture about 37 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide capturing an estimated 40% of all CO2 produced – four times the amount captured by the Amazon rainforest. Whale poop has a multiplier effect on phytoplankton as it contains iron and nitrogen, the elements phytoplankton need to grow; so, the more whales, the more oxygen. Phytoplankton may be microscopic, but, taken together, phytoplankton have an enormous influence on the planet's atmosphere.

"At a minimum, even a one percent increase in phytoplankton productivity thanks to whale activity would capture hundreds of millions of tons of additional CO2 a year, equivalent to the sudden appearance of two billion mature trees"

Whale fall

Upon death, their carcass sink to the ocean floor – and all the carbon that is stored in their enormous bodies is transferred from surface waters to the deep sea, where it remains for centuries or more.

Whale carcasses provide a unique habitat for deep-sea species, many of which are only found on these 'whale falls'. Research has shown that a single skeleton can provide food and habitat for up to 200 species during the final stages of decay.

Contribution of whales in terms of money

The IMF says that each whale is worth more than $2 million. All of the world's whales have a value of over $1 trillion. According to the IMF, "if whales were allowed to return to their pre-whaling numbers — capturing 1.7 billion tons of CO2 annually — it would be worth about $13 per person a year to subsidize these whales' CO2 sequestration efforts".

Fate of whales

Nearly three million whales were wiped out from whaling in the last century which is likely to be the largest cull – in terms of total biomass – of any species in human history.

Whale populations are today a smidgen of what they once were. Biologists estimate that there are slightly more than 1.3 million whales in the ocean, a quarter of their pre-whaling number of 4 to 5 million. Some species in particular, like the blue whale, are only 3 percent of what they used to be.

Current threats to whales

The whale population is recovering since commercial whaling ended in 1986, but they still face many other problems, such as overfishing. Dwindling whale populations increase greenhouse gases, and an increase in greenhouse gases can decrease the whale population. "Whales are highly mobile creatures, so if climate change causes the prey to move, they will probably follow them. Then there's the increased competition that comes about as surface temperatures change and species move to different habitats — all of a sudden, you have different species using the same area, so there's more competition.

Also, the whales and dolphins that remain, face constant threats from entanglements in fishing gear, ship strikes, noise, pollution, and habitat loss.

How can we save the whales?

At the top of the food chain, whales have an important role in the ocean's overall health. Though whale protections and public awareness of the inhumaneness of whaling have improved, unfortunately, 7 out of the 13 great whale species are classified as endangered or vulnerable, even after decades of protection.

To preserve and protect whale populations, we must reduce the many dangers to whales in our seas. Here are simple things you can do to make a difference:

1. Cut the car: bikes, buses, skateboards, feet – use ‘em! Reduce your CO2 emissions, as they lead to ocean acidification and rising sea temperatures, impacting the smallest organisms of the ocean to the largest.
2. Support bans on trade in endangered species products and be sure to not purchase products made with endangered species.
3. Pledge today to reduce your use of single-use plastics. The U.S. contributes an estimated 242 million pounds of plastic trash into the ocean every year, killing countless marine animals, from plankton to sea birds to dolphins and whales, who die each year from plastic pollution.
4. Properly dispose of used fishing line at a designated recycling bin, your fishing supply store, or safely in the trash can. Lost or littered line kills or injures thousands of marine animals each year.
5. Say NO to plastic bags: Plastic bags are particularly dangerous because they resemble jellyfish and are estimated to kill over 100,000 birds, turtles, and marine mammals each year.
6. Look for natural fibers when purchasing clothing and linens, as synthetic fibers like polyester and nylon release plastic microfibers into the waterway when washed. These fibers are extremely dangerous to the organisms that make up the building blocks of the ocean food chain.
7. Support legislation and renewable energy that weans our society off oil dependency. Besides adding to greenhouse emissions, oil and gas development produce noise and pollution that disturb whales and oil spills, drastically affect marine mammal populations.

Finally, if you came this far you would know the importance of whales, not only whales' whole environment and what are threats to them. Being a responsible human being and having the vision of coexistence I have started working for the betterment of nature, by planting and nurturing plants around me, cutting down unnecessary use of energy and resources, reducing the use of plastic as much as possible, and finally minimizing my carbon footprint encouraging you to do the same.

I hope that this article is educational to you guys. Let's help Mother Nature to recover, after all, humanity messed up Earth in the first place, so it's up to us to fix it!