Whale numbers have dropped by 20% in the North Pacific, and Australian scientists blame climate change for disrupting the marine ecosystem.
Who wants humpback skin? After being hunted for centuries, the largest marine mammal was seriously threatened with extinction. By the 1970s, only 1,200 to 1,600 whales remained in the North Pacific. But in 1982, the International Whaling Commission made a decision that changed everything: a ban on commercial whaling. With spectacular effects. Humpback whale populations have been recovering, with more than 30,000 in the North Pacific in 2012. So much so that the United States took them off the endangered species list. But that was without considering another threat: climate change.
Whales starve to death
New Australian research published on February 28 shows that between 2012 and 2021, in less than 10 years, the number of whales in the North Pacific has declined by 20%. As marine heat waves disrupt the entire marine ecosystem and reduce phytoplankton production, these plants are the basis of the whales’ food chain. To keep whales satisfied, they can swallow up to four tons of plankton a day.
After being decimated by hunters, today the whales are being killed by hunger. THE Guardian for example, recounts this week how in 2016 Festus, a whale that had been returning every year for 44 years, was found dead of starvation off the coast of Alaska.
Recalling that whales are guardians of ocean health, Australian scientists are calling for urgent action against climate change. By making the right decisions at the right time, like in 1982 when whaling was banned.