Hey there! Whales are the biggest creatures in the history of our planet. Their influence
on not only nature but also humanity and our culture is equally as huge. I think their
cool! I love ‘em so much in fact, you could call me the “Prince of Whales”. Or not.
Anyway, you wouldn’t think their existence would affect our life, but let’s see what
the world would look like if there were no whales!
Whale, let’s take a moment to appreciate the coolest representative of this species.
The blue whale is the largest and heaviest creature that’s ever lived on Earth. Yes,
much bigger than any dinosaur you can imagine. It’s as long as a Boeing 737 and as heavy
as 4 of them!
The longest blue whale ever measured was just shy of 110 ft – longer than the distance
between the bases on a baseball diamond. It weighs up to 200 tons. That’s about 30 African
elephants, the largest land creature today. Just the tongue of a whale weighs as much
as 2 hippos, and 100 people could fit inside its mouth.
Um, we tried that once at the company party, but we could only get 74 people in the whale’s
mouth before, you know, he swallowed them. Man. Lost the whole sales team too. No, not
really.
Actually, with such a huge size, the blue whale is one of the most harmless creatures
in the ocean. There haven’t been any blue whale attacks on humans recorded in the past
hundred years. So you’d probably be safe swimming next to one, and I know you’d be
surprised by how small their eyes are compared to that massive body – they’re only about
the size of a grapefruit!
There are all kinds of whale species, and they’re all divided into two groups: baleen
and toothed. Obviously, the toothed kind have teeth, and they tend to be hunters. Baleen
whales have toothbrush-like combs instead of teeth, and they live on tiny organisms
like plankton and krill. So, again, if you’re ever swimming next to a whale and checking
out its eyeballs, please check if it has teeth first!
Alright, whales are fascinating, but let’s get back to the question at hand. A world
without all whales entirely, starting with our own history…
In ancient times, and I wasn’t around then, people believed that three huge whales carry
our planet on their backs. The whales swam across the endless ocean of life. Of course,
that was before astronomers discovered that the earth floats in space and revolves around
the sun thanks solely to our star’s gravitational pull. But still, the concept of three whales
has become a popular fairy tale. And if there were no whales, then what would people come
up with? Does the earth stand on huge walruses? Sharks? Three elephants on a turtle? Oh yeah,
that one also existed. Well, anyway…
What about those tales of sailors coming to an island only to find out it’s the back
of a whale? The concept and visuals make for a great plot in all kinds of films and books.
On that note, if there were no whales, the whaling ship "Essex" would never have encountered
an enormous sperm whale. These events wouldn’t have inspired Herman Melville to write one
of the greatest books of the 19th century: Moby-Dick.
“So what? It’s just an old book!” Hey, not so fast! Did you know that Starbucks is
named after one of the novel’s characters? Remember Starbuck, the first mate on the ship
and one of the main characters in the story? Skipped that day in Literature class, eh?
Well, no whales, no Starbucks. Ok, fine, maybe the coffee shop would go by a different name…
It wasn’t only the true story of the Essex that inspired Melville to write Moby-Dick.
The author actually worked on a whaling ship and caught whales for a long time. Why? Because
humanity had been doing it for thousands of years, and nobody thought any different. People
began hunting whales for their fat, which was used for fuel in oil lamps. That oil was
also used to make soaps and cosmetics. Without whales, would humanity have found a different
source, or would we have never discovered soap at all? Pee-yew…
Baleen was a must-have back in the whaling days. Also known as whalebone, those bristly
things were used to make ropes, nets, dishes, clothes – it was pretty much as popular
as plastic is today.
Fashion could’ve taken a completely different path. Without whalebone, we wouldn’t have
come up with corsets! Hmm, perhaps the hour-glass silhouette would’ve never become the fashionable
trend. Maybe pear-shapes would be the beauty standard. Let me know down in the comments
any other ways you imagine the world would change if we didn’t have whales!
But mostly, it’d have to be the effect on the food chain and the rich sea life. Without
orcas, we’d have a lot more sea lions, squids, and walruses. And if there are more sea lions,
then the number of all crustaceans and mollusks will noticeably decrease, since these blubbery
creatures live on that crunchy stuff. A lobster lunch is already pricey, but without whales,
it’ll become even more expensive. Seafood will be a luxury.
Even ordinary fish will feel the consequences. Blue whales feed on tiny krill. When a whale
goes to the bathroom – (let’s stop for second to imagine that. Whoa that’s a big
one.) Anyway, it provides phytoplankton with their food source. Phytoplankton feed ordinary
fish. Those little fish get eaten by bigger fish, and so on. Circle of life, right?
Phytoplankton also play a major role in keeping greenhouse gases at bay. They help remove
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In a world without whales, this entire planet could be
a lot hotter!
If whales disappear, the ocean will also lose ... singing! Whales, birds, bats, and humans
are the only creatures on earth who can sing. Male whales sing songs to attract females,
and females sing lullabies to reassure their offspring. The incredible thing is that each
song is unique, it's never repeated. The sound of these songs span thousands of miles all
around! There are so few sounds in the ocean, so without whales, it’ll become one of the
quietest places on the planet!
By the way, if there weren’t any whales, there couldn’t be dolphins either… if
we’re talking about whales never having even existed. Dolphins, as well as porpoises,
are a type of whale! In fact, they’re that “toothed” kind, meaning orcas are actually
large dolphins!
If there are no whales, then who will become the largest creature on Earth? That’s right,
the African elephant. However, if whales had never existed as a species, then the African
elephant would probably have competitors! Or bigger family reunions. Yep, elephants
and whales are related…
I’m sure you know whales aren’t fish – they’re mammals that happen to live in the ocean.
They don't have gills, and they can’t breathe underwater. These animals take in air through
the blowhole on their heads every 15-30 minutes depending on the species. By the way, the
toothed kind only have 1 blowhole, but baleen whales have 2. There’s another way you can
tell the difference!
Anyway, here’s the theory: millions of years ago (I wasn’t around then), the animals
that whales would later come from actually walked on land! They looked like huge pigs
or hippos, and the hippos you know today do share a common ancient ancestor with whales!
(Along with other hooved beings like cows, deer, giraffes, and sheep!) These pre-whale
“pigs” lived near the ocean. They kept getting driven closer and closer to the water
by dangerous predators coming into their territory. Well, eventually, they had no other choice
than to jump into the water and start a new life as aquatic mammals!
Ok, it didn’t quite go like that. It took millions and millions of years for this evolutionary
process to happen. But over time, their hooves and limbs would be replaced with fins. In
fact, whales and dolphins still have hip bones today! They don’t use them or anything,
they’re just there and slowly disappearing, much like tailbones on humans!
And what if those prehistoric piggies hadn’t taken to the water? We could have pigs the
size of a house rolling around out in the mud! Humungous hippos would be kings of all
the savannas. It’s hard to say, but probably unlikely that they’d be any bigger than
they are now…
And that’s because gravity isn’t as strong when you’re in water. Whales don't feel
their enormous weight because they don't rely on their limbs to hold them up. This factor
allowed these animals to become so huge. That, and metabolism slows down in cold water versus
on land. As a result, whales accumulated more fat and became so massive. As for the last
factor, there were probably fewer dangers for whales in the water. So, they could multiply
and evolve almost without obstacles.
And wasn’t that a whale of a tale?
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