Climate change, a reality that we are still striving to combat.
Recent research shows that whales are quietly helping to cool the temperature of our planet.
Throughout the 1970s and 80s activists fought to "Save the Whales".
The movement to save these creatures arose because the practice of whaling had decimated
their global population.
Scientists estimate the population had declined between 66 and 90 percent.
These early eco-warriors had no idea how valuable their campaign would be for the planet.
This value is only just beginning to come to light.
This blue whale is one of the largest creatures on Earth.
And it’s enormous body stores harmful carbon dioxide.
How much? Around 33 tonnes.
As a comparison, a single tree only absorbs around 21 kilos of CO2 a year.
When a whale dies and sinks to the bottom of the ocean, all that carbon goes with them.
There it is stored, in the deep sea, for centuries.
What if we could bring whale populations back to previous numbers?
How much carbon could we take out of our atmosphere?
Well, scientists have worked that out.
Pre-1900, it’s thought that whaling added up to 1.9 million tonnes of carbon back into
the atmosphere.
And since 1900, a further 70 million tonnes.
That’s the equivalent of taking 15 million cars off the road for one year.
Whale "waste" also has a massive impact on our climate.
Their nutrient rich poo is, essentially, a phytoplankton farm.
These microscopic creatures thrive on it.
Why should we care?
Because phytoplankton already capture 40% of all carbon produced on our planet,
the equivalent of 1.7 trillion trees.
What if the whale populations were restored?
How much more carbon would additional phytoplankton populations be able to sequester?
This strategy doesn’t take up land or require testing or fundraising.
It is simply protection and restoration of a lost ecosystem.
Effective, simple, natural.
In 2019, the International Monetary Fund released a report
calculating that each whale in the ocean is worth more than two million dollars.
They concluded that whales are “irreplaceable in mitigating and building resilience to climate
change”, calling for their survival to be integrated into the objectives of the Paris
Agreement for combating climate risk.
The lesson here is crystal clear, saving the whales was never just about saving the whales.
It’s about preserving our ecosystem.
All of human activity depends on the "services" nature provides.
The more successful we are at preserving it, the better chance we have at our own survival.