How Whaling Affects the Ecosystem
Whaling affects the worlds ecosystems. Whales are vital to the food chain, stabilising food flow and maintaining a healthy ocean. As such, the rapidly decreasing whale population will have major effects on the ocean's ecosystem.
Whales are vital to sustaining healthy marine life by regulating the food flow of the ocean. They are a key part of the ocean and play an essential role in the energy flow and biological pump of the overall marine life. An example is the blue whale. One of these large mammals consume a whopping 40 million krill in one day so you can imagine what the consequences will be if these species become extinct. The dead body of a whale is also a significant food source in the ocean. When a whale dies, it's multiple tonne body will drop down to the ocean floor and feed the sea creatures in the lower depths of the waters.
Believe it or not, whale poop also serves quite an important purpose to the ecosystem. The nutrients contained within the poop (particularly from sperm whales) help stimulate the growth of phytoplankton which are organisms that pull carbon from the air, providing a cleaner and healthier atmosphere for all plant and animal life to breathe in. Estimates show that at least 400,000 tonnes of carbon is taken from the air due to the whale faeces. Consequences from over-whaling include increased carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming and leads to melting of the polar ice caps and changes in the eating habits of many marine animals. Phytoplankton is also a main food source for many species and is important for fish to be healthy and thriving.
A trend that has been observed is that whaling fleets have been focusing on less and less valuable whales from humpbacks, blue fins, then sperm and finally Minke whales. This trend resulted in Minke whales being the most abundant whale in the southern hemisphere. The pattern occurred after the mass slaughter of right whales in the 19th century. Such a massive change to the ocean life caused significant affects on the marine ecosystem. Whales affect the ecosystem in a great number of ways but one of the greatest affects of the removal of the whale population was the massive krill surplus that followed.
20 years have passed since the boom of industrial whaling and while whaling still continues on today, it's significantly less than the huge takes that occurred before. The three categories that are affected the most are the prey, the competitors and the predators. Whales are at the top of the food chain and hunting them to endangerment/extinction can have dramatic effects. They play a major role in keeping an overall healthy marine life but commercial whaling has severely depleted their numbers resulting in previously common whales to become rarely sited nowadays.
Whales are vital to sustaining healthy marine life by regulating the food flow of the ocean. They are a key part of the ocean and play an essential role in the energy flow and biological pump of the overall marine life. An example is the blue whale. One of these large mammals consume a whopping 40 million krill in one day so you can imagine what the consequences will be if these species become extinct. The dead body of a whale is also a significant food source in the ocean. When a whale dies, it's multiple tonne body will drop down to the ocean floor and feed the sea creatures in the lower depths of the waters.
Believe it or not, whale poop also serves quite an important purpose to the ecosystem. The nutrients contained within the poop (particularly from sperm whales) help stimulate the growth of phytoplankton which are organisms that pull carbon from the air, providing a cleaner and healthier atmosphere for all plant and animal life to breathe in. Estimates show that at least 400,000 tonnes of carbon is taken from the air due to the whale faeces. Consequences from over-whaling include increased carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming and leads to melting of the polar ice caps and changes in the eating habits of many marine animals. Phytoplankton is also a main food source for many species and is important for fish to be healthy and thriving.
A trend that has been observed is that whaling fleets have been focusing on less and less valuable whales from humpbacks, blue fins, then sperm and finally Minke whales. This trend resulted in Minke whales being the most abundant whale in the southern hemisphere. The pattern occurred after the mass slaughter of right whales in the 19th century. Such a massive change to the ocean life caused significant affects on the marine ecosystem. Whales affect the ecosystem in a great number of ways but one of the greatest affects of the removal of the whale population was the massive krill surplus that followed.
20 years have passed since the boom of industrial whaling and while whaling still continues on today, it's significantly less than the huge takes that occurred before. The three categories that are affected the most are the prey, the competitors and the predators. Whales are at the top of the food chain and hunting them to endangerment/extinction can have dramatic effects. They play a major role in keeping an overall healthy marine life but commercial whaling has severely depleted their numbers resulting in previously common whales to become rarely sited nowadays.
How Whaling Affects the Marine Ecosystem
Source: www.pewenvironment.org/
The picture above is a diagram showing the energy flow of the ocean marine life. The energy flow goes upwards and starts from the bottom which consists of plankton and other tiny organisms. Plankton are the main food source of many sea creatures and are the beginning of the ocean food flow. from there are the forage fish which feed on plankton and eaten by the predators. Whales are at the top of the food chain and have no predators other than humans. Hunting a top predator of the food chain to endangerment has great consequences and will affect all the creatures below it.
The picture above is a diagram showing the energy flow of the ocean marine life. The energy flow goes upwards and starts from the bottom which consists of plankton and other tiny organisms. Plankton are the main food source of many sea creatures and are the beginning of the ocean food flow. from there are the forage fish which feed on plankton and eaten by the predators. Whales are at the top of the food chain and have no predators other than humans. Hunting a top predator of the food chain to endangerment has great consequences and will affect all the creatures below it.
Source: marinebio.org
This is a food web of the animals in the artic. The baleen whales (filter feeding whales) have many lines leading away from it while no arrows pointing at it. That means that the baleen whale is a main predator while having no predators of its own. Now if the baleen whale were to become extinct or critically endangered, every animal that is linked to it and linked to that etc, will be affected. the balance of the food chain will be thrown out of balance and there will be surplus/lack of certain species due to this. All the creatures below the whale will become too abundant and will fight for the food below itself. The food system will fall upside down.
This is a food web of the animals in the artic. The baleen whales (filter feeding whales) have many lines leading away from it while no arrows pointing at it. That means that the baleen whale is a main predator while having no predators of its own. Now if the baleen whale were to become extinct or critically endangered, every animal that is linked to it and linked to that etc, will be affected. the balance of the food chain will be thrown out of balance and there will be surplus/lack of certain species due to this. All the creatures below the whale will become too abundant and will fight for the food below itself. The food system will fall upside down.