As you know, this past Friday I attended a workshop. The keynote speaker, and workshop presenter, was Tom Wessels, author of Reading The Forested Landscape, and a professor of biology and environmental science at Antioch College. (btw Katie, he says "hello"). Tom's presentation was wonderful, but his talk was full of the caveats that biologists seem so focused on at this point in time; ie, climate change, loss of habitat, species extinction etc. At the end of the workshop, we talked, and I asked him how he responds to his students when they ask the same question I here from many of my students: Is there any good biology news? It all seems so bleak - what can we do? What can we hopeful about?
Tom told me that he responds by telling his students that we are, indeed, on the verge of a sixth "great extinction", but not to despair - human life as we know it will disappear but life, and the earth, will go on to renew itself and prosper.
Oh. Somehow I was hoping for more.
Fortunately, I read an article in the New York Times which offered me more hope. A lot more hope.
As some of you know, I'm very interested in the history of whaling in the United States. Whaling was a brutally hazardous way of making a living, but a necessary one. Whaling providing the world with a much needed commodity: whale oil. Whale oil lit the world prior to the invention of the light bulb. And whale oil was an important energy source prior to the discovery of the oil fields in the Middle East, and the creation of the refineries that created gasoline.
Whalers lead dangerous lives. The hunters' prey were the objects of callous and brutal hunting practices. In one famous historical incident, the Whaleship Essex was repeatedly rammed by a ferocious bull Sperm Whale who decided that he had taken enough. This incident probably served as the model for Herman Melville's creation, Moby Dick.
The Right Whale is a calm, slow, curious behemoth of the North Atlantic. It has lots of oil and baleen, (used by the mammal to filter food out of its waters, and used by humans for corsets), it swims close to the shoreline, and when killed, it floats on the water's surface. Curious, slow, docile, full of oil and easy to retrieve. Whalers of the 19th century named it for what it was: the right whale to kill.
By 1900, Right Whales were hunted to the brink of extinction. Their worldwide population had dwindled down to 100. Scientists were certain that the large mammal, that typically gives birth to a single calf, would not reproduce at a rate needed to sustain the population. In other words, the Right Whale appeared to be heading to certain extinction.
But a funny thing happened. People began to care about whales. Their value as an eco-tourist entity (ie,whale watching trips) began to out value their market value as a resource. As a result, many countries, including the United States, began to put legislation in place to protect the Right Whale, and other marine mammals.
During the past couple of decades the Right Whale, and several other species, have given scientists cause for hope. In 2001, a record number of Right Whale calves were born - 31. This past year, the record was broken with the birth of 39. These numbers have little to do with ocean habitat change, or food availability, or changes in acid precipitation. Rather, they're a reflection of people caring, and working to change human behaviors and their impacts on other creatures.
This article really gave me cause for hope. If we can bring the Right Whale back from the verge of extinction, there's hope for many of the other creatures currently at risk throughout the world.
Even ourselves.
I encourage you to take a look at the complete article, and its embedded slide show at
www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/science/17whal.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=science
14 comments:
First, I have to question just how many Right Whales are left? If only an estimated 39 were born last year (and that was a record) just how many are left in the ocean? And what would be the "ideal number" of Right Whales to have in the ocean?
I also wonder what influence the increase in Right Whales will have on the environment. What will happen when the Right Whale makes a comeback? Will it upset other species who feed on the same things as the Right Whale? Will it have any negative effects? What will be the benefit of having more Right Whales in our oceans? I feel sorry for the poor creatures, being hunted to the brink of extinction, but I wonder what will happen once (and if) they make a comeback.
I also wonder about its status as a protected creature. If it makes a comeback, will people cease tracking these animals? Will the NOAA put its people onto different tasks? Will they be ignored until they are an endangered species again?
-Mike Diamond
Mike, to answer your question, scientists estimate that there are between 325 and 400 North Atlantic right whales left in the world's oceans. Technically, since they were hunted to extinction in European waters, we're talking about North American waters. To answer a couple of your other questions. . .they feed on plankton, so any other species that feeds on plankton could potentially suffer. But consider how slowly these creatures are recovering - in 1900, there were 100 left in the world and today there are approximately 250 more, that's a population increase of about two whales a year. Such slow adjustment is very unlikely to cause sudden problems for other plankton-eaters. I'm not sure what we could call the benefits, except that our children will live in a world where these majestic, almost magical creatures exist.
As for their status as an endangered species, consider the peregrine falcon. Gravely endangered by widespread use of DDT in the mid-20th century, these birds made a significant comeback and were removed from the Endangered Species List in 1994. There are certainly still measures in place to protect their nesting grounds, however (there are some mountains/cliffs in Fairlee where hiking is prohibited during nesting season). Hopefully, if the whales do make a full recovery, regulations to protect them will already be in place. Without removing those regulations of shipping/fishing, the NOAA will be able to turn its attention (as well as its monetary resources) to other tasks.
This issue also brings to my mind the issue of human culpability. The human race is responsible for the decline of the North Atlantic right whale. Don't we hold members of our society responsible for their actions? That's how we define justice. In my mind, at least some measure of that moral standard should apply to other Earthly species as well.
My thoughts are a little disorganized now, so I think I'll finish my post there.
Jennie M.
I also wonder why the whales are not reproducing as fast as they should, you would think if they were being hunted as much as they were that they would produce more young.
I also find it interesting that at the time the whales were being hunted for their oil that provided us with light. Now, in 2009, we are in a war that some say is based on the oil in the Middle Eastern countries, and we are killing people to get the same thing that almost made the Right Whale go extinct. (I don't want to assume that this war is based only on oil, but I think it is part of it.) Anyways, my point is that people will do whatever it takes to get what they want.
I hope that the Right Whale will stay off the endangered list in the future and that the war we are in will soon end.
~Stacy~
"The right whale" really? Tell me, do you think when we've dwindled down to a hundred people will start caring about us/themselves/ourselves? our maybe the animals will jump up and come to our "rescue" could be a whole reverse situation. Oh well no use crying over spilt milk......... how many whales can the ocean contain "happily" for that matter, what would be the perfect number of every single type of organism in the ocean(known to man)? how hard wold that be to figure out?
Da Cleava
Saving animals from extinction is a good thing, because diversity helps ecosystems maintain balance.
We must ask ourselves why the animal is going extinct and whether or not preventing it is right. For such a noble cause as the Right Whale I believe it is a great animal to save because we drove it to extinction, but we must weight the possible outcome of rebalancing the scale. In the Right Whale's case its should be fine, but further down the road what will happen. Will the protective laws be dropped, will the whales over populate, will they be hunted again? These are questions we must ask. I am just throwing out ideas here because I don't have an effect on the outcome of the Right Whale, but I think it is a noble cause.
Andy H
I think we peoples are focusing a little too much on the reporoduction rate specifically. The population of whales and such is also based on death rate. If 39 are born but 37 die that year, its not much of a gain. I am quite sure they aren't dying off that quickly and lead long lives. If whale overpopulation ever becomes a problem it can easily be solved (if not in the most preferable way) by hunting the excess whales. Same thing that people do with deer and moose and bears to control populations.
Basically it seems that since humans can make such a huge effect on populations of animals (and we do) we ar becoming responsible for them. Now I feel the need to quote a cheesy movie quote... "With great power comes great responsibility!" anyways... Whales are cool.
-Danny G.
Human beings are considered to be one of the most intelligent creatures, and with this comes power. We hold a lot of power to control what happens to other species of animals. There are many species that are in danger of extinction and in many cases this is a result of human actions, such as with the right whale. Once we realize what we have done, we usually try to fix it. Even though I think it's great that humans are willing to put time and effort into saving endangered species, I think that there is only so much that we can undo or fix. Sometimes it's too late and sometimes there may be other consequences such as messing with nature and the balance of things. It may not be the case with the right whale becuase they are recovering so slowely, but with other species it might throw off the balance in the ecosystem. It also seems to me that if we had not taken advantage of these animals to start with, we wouldn't have to put so much money and effort into correcting our mistakes. All of this tampering with the enviroment doesn't really seem right to me but rather seems like we are throwing off the rhythm of nature; a role that is not ours to have.
-Amanda O.
First off, I think that it's great to hear that in a time of such decline ,of just about everything, an endangered species is making a comeback. Like you said, it's very inspiring to see a species which once numbered only 100 animals completely reverse it's "destiny." One of the pictures in the slideshow depicted a dead right whale in Wellfleet, Mass which happens to be very close to where my family and I vacation during the summer. We travel to Truro, Mass, a little further out the Cape than Wellfleet, and go fishing on Race point at the very end of Cape Cod. Over the past few years, the number of whales that we see from the beach has been increasing. So I was wondering if these were right whales or not.
Also, how does one come to figure out that dogs can "track" whale scat in the middle of the ocean? Who is the one that actually discovered this method and how long has it been used for? One last question, what is a "spontanious abortion" in relation with whales?
I think whaling is an amazing history of our nation. It shows how dependant we are for sources of energy. And it is amazing how a group of people can save species from extinction. So we saved the whales by making whale shows, but what about other animals? Like we found Whale niches for us, but what about other endangered species? It's sad that there are many and it changes everyday. But what can we do?
-Elsa C
I feel sorry for the Right Whale. It seems like a very cool creature, and they should be allowed to live. People should pay more attention to the plights of marine animals such as these whales, because, after all, we are not the only ones living on this planet. I think it is sad that for so long, people hunted these magnificent creatures just for lamp oil. We humans are really bad at considering the needs of other species--just ask the endangered koala bears!
I would be interested to know more about the ecosystem of the ocean, and how other creatures have adapted to deal with the near-absence of the Right Whales.
I, also, think it is truly wonderful to see an endangered species come back. Whales are really amazing creatures. Sadly, they have been hunted too much. I guess, people depended on them before oil was discovered. I hope all whaling will end. When I was a little German, I had a special interest in whales and read a lot of books about them. There is something about them that makes you feel sad and happy and small. I bet a lot of people feel the same way and do their best to save whales.
I was kind of shocked when I read about the etymology of the right whale’s name. I think the translation of the German name would be “Greenland Whale”. I know Germany did some whaling, too, but I don’t think it ever was as big of a whaling nation as Japan or Norway.
Why is there still whaling going on? Probably, I don’t know enough about it to defend an opinion, but I can’t see the necessity of it. I, myself, have never eaten whale meat, and I don’t think I know anybody who has, or who has it on a regular basis. I guess, it is embedded in other people’s culture.
But still, I hope to hear more success stories like the Right Whale’s.
Like many people have said it is a valiant effort to try to save endangered species. In the case of the right whale it sounds like this has payed off, and not caused much harm to the ecosystem. However, I agree with Amanda that sometimes trying to mess with the balance of nature is not always the best thing.
I feel as humans when we do things to aggravate something or someone we feel we need to fix it. Which in most cases helps, but it some cases it can cause more harm. With the Right Whale, working to keep it off the endangered list helped. What if increasing the population of an endangered animal only caused more problems though?
I think we need to find some way to draw a line at where we let nature undergo its own changes.
When it comes to the interference of humans it can often be helpful, because, after all, the problems many creatures on this earth face are caused by humans. Therefore we can be more beneficial than destructive if we are able to undo the damage we have done. When humans have tried to fix problems and instead made them worse were often times when we had only ourselves in mind instead all things. For instance with the right whales, it was our fault that they were on the brink of extinction therefore when we were able to protect them there population increased. Same idea goes for global climate change. We have been pumping so many greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere it is time for us to step back see the mess we made and start pick up bit by bit.
Is the reason that the Right Whales aren't producing younge at a steady rate simply because they are being hunted and killed off before they have the chance to reproduce? If so that's aweful! I mean Whales in general, at least in my perspective, aren't really seen as "popular" animals. I mean it's not like you hear everyday "hey mommy, can I have a whale for my birthday?" But just the fact that people didn't care enough to sustain the life of a very valuable animal is crazy.
It is also very good to hear about the comeback of these Whales after they suffered such a hard time through extinction. Especially when our society is having such a hard time right now (economicall, ect.), it is great to hear that something this unexpected is happenning.
-Heidi
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