The majestic North Pacific humpback whales are singing a troubled tune. 🎶🐋 A recent study reveals that their numbers have dropped by a staggering 20% in less than a decade, and marine heat waves might be to blame.
These gentle giants had been making a great comeback since commercial whaling ended in 1976. Conservation efforts saw their population steadily rise until 2012. It was all smooth sailing—or so we thought!
But hold on—between 2012 and 2021, researchers noticed a sharp decline in humpback numbers. 🧐 A team of 75 scientists dove deep into the data, compiling the largest photo-ID dataset ever for a marine mammal. By snapping pics of their unique tail flukes, they logged around 200,000 sightings of over 33,000 individual whales!
The findings, published in the Royal Society Open Science journal, suggest that the ocean's rising temperatures are impacting these whales big time. 🌡️🔥 Marine heat waves could be messing with their food supply or migration patterns. Either way, it's not cool.
Up until 2012, everyone thought the humpback population would level off naturally at the ocean's \"carrying capacity\"—basically, the number of whales the sea can support. But with this unexpected downturn, scientists and ocean lovers alike are sounding the alarm. 🚨
It's a wake-up call for all of us to pay attention to our oceans and the creatures that call them home. After all, we're all in the same boat when it comes to climate change. 🌎❤️
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
