Who Else Does it Affect?

                Studies show that the lack of Chinook Salmon around the region is greatly affecting our killer whale population. These salmon are extremely sought after, both by humans and by killer whales. It is the primary food source for the local orcas, and many humans are also after this precious fish, for both its nutritional value and taste. However these salmon have been steadily losing population throughout the years. This is both because of overfishing, and poor hatchery management. It is estimated that whales need anywhere from 221,000 to 1.76 million salmon per year for their feeding habits alone.  And with humans demand a viscous amount of salmon per year too how will there ever be enough? These salmon are dying in population yet demanded by many different species.

 

                With congress passing a bill authorizing more than $100 million for the development of salmon hatcheries we should think that the problem should be solved right? However the answer is not that simple, after that bill was passed they have since only allowed $1 million for only the planning of these developments and nothing more. Therefore they have yet to make a difference in increasing the population of salmon.

Whales have tried to adapt to a variety of problems,but it becomes increasingly difficult to find new places to live. Various obstacles have impeded the whales livelihood whether it is the water, pollution, temperature, or food supply. Whales have begun to need new sources of food, not just due to salmon population but also because of the combination of warming waters attributed to experts as the increase in planet temperature, especially concentrated in the ocean. Whales are then forced to eat different things such as sea otters, which until the last decade they had never consumed.  The consumption of different food causes an unbalance in the ocean ecosystem.  From the warmer waters and lack of salmon whales must relocate causing new issues in the ecosystem.

 

 Whales have experienced not only diet problems but aggression due to the warmer waters. Whales are beginning to express some aggression in the wild which is dangerous for humans trying to sneak a peek at whales. Killer Whales already have a bad reputation, and as their natural environment is changing so are their behaviors. Many of them are believed to be more aggressive than just a decade ago. This is blamed on stress that results from many factors including climate change. Since the Killer Whales will be in areas that they normally are not, they are more of a risk in areas where boats and people normally are (Killer Whales and Global Warming 1) If people go whale watching and the warm waters do in fact create a more aggressive whale the ships, kayaks, and people could face some retaliation from the whales. We need to be careful with our interest in whales because it can lead to their demise.  “The steady growth of recreational whale watching has raised some concerns with killer whale researchers. Higher concentrations and closer proximity of boats can force whales away from their traditional habitats” (Killer 1).

 

One of the most important, and selfish reasons we should care about whales is planet health. Their diet, habitat, and behavior are all affected by human actions.  We are affecting them through the things we do to our planet. Whales are a direct indicator of marine and planet health. We need to learn from the whales and realize that if we pollute this earth the whales will not only be affected but all mammals, yes, even humans.

Killer whales can be regarded as indicators of the health of our marine environment. The high levels of contaminants are very alarming and clearly show that the arctic seas are not as clean as they should be, which particularly affects animals at the top of the food chain (Killer Whales Toxic 1)

Whales are at the top of the food chain and if they become extinct the entirety of ocean life will be thrown out of order and it will be getting too late to help ourselves by saving the planet.

               

 We should care about whales, because it is cruel to trap them and cruel to pollute their home.  On top of that it would alter the food chain and create an imbalance in the ocean ecosystem. If one mammal cannot survive who is to say that other mammals will not soon suffer the effects of pollution.  There is a lot we can do but it has to be systematically done and implemented.  We need to take care of our planet not just for whales but for our future generations.  It starts with helping the whales and we can learn from that.  When we find ways to create a better environment for whales we will find ways to help create a better environment for all mammals.

 

We’re all mammals. There’s no difference between us. We don’t have any rights to pollute their living environment and bodies. When we destroy their environment, we destroy our environment too. Once contaminants arrive in marine water, they aren’t easily washed out to sea. Most contaminants tend to sink to the bottom and to stay in one place. Every marine creature assimilates contaminants through the food they eat. But, among sea creatures, whales and other top carnivores tend to have much higher levels of pollutants than other organisms. 

 

We eat fish like whales do. Polluted fish has always been notified as news on T.V, so people can avoid eating them. But, what about the whales? People have not notified about dangerous fish to the whales. We don’t have any ways to notify it for the whales, so they have kept eating toxic fish, and they have eroded. And their ecological system has changed badly, every day. The whole environmental destruction is entirely caused by artificial creation. Human beings have manufactured weapons from natural resources, and have reduced them to nature. It is a reduction, namely destruction. We live together on the same field, the earth. But human beings have tried to warp a perfect circle of lives. We need to do something for nature, because it is for us.