Humpback Whales
By Grace Dale, Molly Shoemaker, and Kylie Murphy
Humpbacks
Near coastlines these majestic mammals feed on tiny shrimp, krill, and plankton. Humpbacks migrate annually from summer feeding grounds near the poles to warmer winter breeding waters closer to the equator. These creatures can reach up to 62.5 feet and weigh 40 tons! There are only 40,000 to 30,000 humpback whales left in the entire world, this classifies them as endangered.
Whales and Climate Change
Recently, profound amounts of sea ice have been rapidly melting causing abundances of krill to be exposed. This leads to a huge feast for all the whales which is great short-term but bad long-term. Krill lay eggs in the sea ice and with sea ice melting quicker there are less areas to lay eggs. Because krill will no longer have places to lay their eggs and hide whales will eat them all in no time. If sea ice continues to melt at this rate there will be no mare krill left to sustain the whale population, which will result in the population dwindling.
How Acidification is Affecting Whales Today
Acidification is affecting whales today because it is a product of carbon emissions and it's a chemical change that affects the way sound travels in the ocean. Whales use sound to communicate with each other throughout the sea, if large amounts of carbon emissions are released whales will need to find other ways to communicate with their pods.
HOW TO HELP THE WHALES
Some ways to help save the whales is participating in national cleanup days, picking up trash while walking in your neighborhood, keeping your car well maintained to prevent leaks onto roadways which causes water pollution. You can recycle, recuse, and reduce, also buy products that are environmentally friendly and buy products that support organic farming,