Unfortunately, whale populations are a fraction of their historic numbers in many parts of the world, 25% of the number that were around before whaling. Whale “poop” delivers nutrients from the deep to the sunlit surface waters spurring on plankton blooms. Today we know how important whales are to the carbon cycle in the ocean. The rallying cry of the 1970’s was “Save the Whales” primarily due to the growing appreciation of these sentient and large mammals, who care for their young as humans do and live in complex social groups. Yes, we must change our behavior, but there is also a need for us to protect large areas of the ocean – 30% or more! One under-appreciated role played in this drama is that played by the great whales. Marine Conservation Institute’s focus on ocean protection also provides a critical role. We owe it to our children and the other occupants of our planet to do more, in fact we owe everything in our power to address the climate crisis. Greta Thunberg’s admonishment, “How dare you pretend that this can be solved with just ‘business as usual…You are failing us” lands squarely on target. We need to move as rapidly as possible to carbon free energy sources, but there are so many other things we can do to help provide us time for this transition. We know that reducing CO 2 emissions is the answer. Around the world we are seeing coral bleaching (the most well-known manifestation of ocean heating), as well as the dramatic loss of the ice-covered poles (cryosphere).

We may think of heatwaves in the context of terrestrial ones, but marine heatwaves are increasingly common and the “blob” is just one manifestation of it. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate reveals the extent of the crisis facing humanity as the ocean and its services begin to show signs of collapse.

The ocean is taking the heat for our tailpipe and other CO 2 emissions. Photo courtesy of Shaun Wolfe/ Coral Reef Image Bank

The blob 1958 free download