Gray Whales Starving At Breeding Grounds - Species Plows For Food Now Missing From Seafloor

[hatrack]

EDIT

Large numbers of greys (Eschrichtius robustus) have recently found to have been starving when they arrived at their breeding grounds and it was assumed this had been caused by increased numbers competing for limited food supplies. The grey filters its food, mainly crustaceans such as amphipods and tube worms, found in bottom sediments of the ocean.

But now the scientists believe that climate change in its Arctic feeding grounds has cut its traditional food sources and that even the vastly reduced population cannot easily survive. And as a knock-on effect the grey has been unable to play its normal role in the ocean's ecology putting other species at risk.

EDIT

The scientists believe the vastly reduced population of gray whales has probably brought about large changes in Pacific ocean ecosystems. Uniquely among whales, the grey bulldozes troughs through the ocean floor as it searches for food throwing up sediment and bringing food closer to the surface. "A population of 96,000 gray whales would have resuspended 12 times more sediment each year than the biggest river in the Arctic, the Yukon," said Alter, "and would have played a critical role in the ecology of the Bering Sea."

Other species may have felt the loss of whales as well. "The feeding plumes of gray whales are foraging grounds for Arctic seabirds," Prof Palumbi said. "96,000 gray whales would have helped feed over a million seabirds a year." The study raises questions about how many whales the oceans can now support and whether, even with the hunting ban, whether the grey has a future if overfishing and global climate change continues.

EDIT

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml;jsessionid=0K0DHBMYRD4XHQFIQMGCFFOAVCBQUIV0?xml=/earth/2007/09/10/eawhale110.xml

[kestrel91316]

1. I guess that strip-mining of the ocean turned out to be not such

a good policy, eh?

Oh, well. I hear jellyfish are tasty.

[ThomCat]

2. Corporations will never admit that.

As long as there is a profit to make they'll swear there is a way to do it "responsibly" and they'll swear that they are acting "responsibly." Without any reference to ecological or environmental facts, of course.

x(

[tnlurker]

3. There needs to be

At least a five year ban on most fishing and trolling in the oceans. They need at least that to recover.

[GliderGuider]

4. There has been a ban on Northern Cod fishing on the Grand Banks since 1992.

15 years have gone by. No recovery. Not even a sign of a recovery.

Many large fish species are now below a critical threshold. The oceans could take hundreds of years to recover even if we stopped all our fishing tomorrow at midnight.

[Nihil]

5. Hey, no need to worry ...

... seeing how many people on DU think there enough grey whales that the
native yahoos should be allowed to shoot 'em up ... there's obviously no
problem with the environment after all!

:grr:

[Dead_Parrot]

6. Don't tell me...

Some genius defending the ancient right of the Makah to go out with heavy calibre weapons, for a guess.

And for 5 bonus points, in GD.

Hey ho. :(