A new study shows that the population of blue whales in California are starting to yet again reach a sustainable level.
Blue whales are big. They weigh on average 190 tonnes, to put that into perspective you would need to stack up at least 3 large tanks on a giant scale in order to compare with the size of a blue whale, and even then you would need to add another 10 tonnes onto it.
Their large size could explain why at least 11 blue
whales are struck every single year by ships along the U.S. West Coast.
Doesn’t seem like much does it? But only 3 whales on
average die every year through natural threats, which is another reason why
this is such a huge success story.
The study itself has shown that along the eastern side
of the Pacific Ocean, there are now about 2,200 Blue Whales, this is decades
after the hunting the whales was banned by the IWC (The International Whaling Commission).
This might seem as a very small number, however before
the ban took place, around 3,400 California blue whales were killed between
1905 and 1971. “It’s a conversation success story” said Cole Monnahan, one of
the publishers of this study.It’s not all good news however, as although the California Blue Whales have managed to recover, they are the only known population of blue whales that have managed to get back to a sustainable population after the global whaling ban.
“California blue whales are recovering because we took actions to stop catches and start monitoring. If we hadn’t, the population might have been pushed to near extinction” explained Monnahan.
The conservation of blue whales off the California
coast could prove to set an example for other countries, showing that it is
very possible to help get a population of animals back to sustainable
standards.
Although blue whales are still threatened, this shows
the gigantic effect that people can have on animal populations, for better or
worse. 