The Wanderer of the Worlds Oceans by Janelle Pena

All about that Blue Whale

Enchanted Learning

Did you know that blue whale is the largest known animal to exist? According to National Geographic, its tongue alone can weigh as much as an elephant and its heart is nearly the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. The Blue Whale maintains a Thanksgiving-like appetite, its daily feast consisting of 4 tons of krill! But is the blue whale actually blue? The answer is confusingly yes and no. The skin is actually a grayish-blue pattern but, when viewed from underwater, retains its blue nature. 

The Blue Whale has also gained the nickname “sulfur bottom” due to adherence of the cold water diatoms on the skin. These diatoms provide a yellowish tint to their bellies (World Wildlife Fund). 

Wikipedia

A unique feature of Blue whales is that they inhabit all of the worlds oceans. This is due to their seasonal migration. Blue Whales spend more of summers in the polar waters and undertake lengthy migrations toward the equator nearing winter. (Fun fact: They cruise at no more than 5 miles an hour but accelerate to more than 20 miles an hour when agitated!) It is assumed that Blue Whale distribution is governed largely by food requirements which is why their populations are seasonally migratory (World Wildlife Fund). Poleward movements in spring allow the whales to take advantage of high zooplankton production in summer. Movement toward the subtropics in the fall allows blue whales to reduce their energy expenditure while fasting, avoid ice entrapment in some areas, and engage in reproductive activities in warmer waters of lower latitudes. Although the lifespan of the Blue Whale estimates around 80 to 90 years, their population is estimated to only be about 15,000 whales. This is shocking considering they are among the Earths longest-lived animals. 

But how could this have happened?

Wikipedia

The decline in their population has mainly been due to whaling during the 1900’s, where around 360,000 blue whales were slaughtered. They were over hunted for many years since their meat, oil, and other body parts were very valuable. By 1996 their population was so scarce that the International Whaling Commission declared them protected from commercial whaling, which assisted in the slight recovery of their population. Although a valiant effort, the population was so reduced that further mortalities would impact the survival of the species. This led to Blue Whales listing of “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act on July 28, 1998. Thankfully their population is now on the rise! 

Does this mean that they are in the clear? 

NO!

Blue Whales surprisingly have few predators but fall victim mainly to human actions. They have had to deal with “vessel interactions, entrapment and entanglement in fishing gear, habitat degradation, military operations and hunting (Marine Mammal Center)."  

So what are we doing to help them? 

Fear not! A recovery plan is in its final stage of development to protect this amazing species. 

The primary purpose of the plan is to identify a set of actions that will minimize or eliminate effects from human activities that are detrimental to the recovery of blue whale populations. Current criteria for delisting or down-listing recovering blue whale populations do not exist and developing them is one of the recommended actions. Immediate objectives are to identify factors that may be limiting the populations and actions necessary to allow the populations to increase.

What does this plan entail?

Key Points:

Further research! Find out exactly how and what this species is being affected by to develop means of protection. 

International cooperation is needed, Blue Whales should have the world working toward recovery, not solely the U.S. 

Areas of critical habitat should be identified. Monitoring how they interact with environments will help better protect habitats they need. Protecting those areas will ultimately protect them and further ensure survival.

Focus on managing human activities (including fisheries, vessel traffic, whale watching, and activities that cause cetacean habitat degradation and loss) and implement the bans we have in place. 
Coordinate state, federal, and international efforts to implement recovery action for blue whales. 

Recovery Plan: 

1. Identify measures that must be taken to protect and monitor the recovery of blue whale population. 

2. Determine population structure.
          Need to determine abundance, vital rates, population structure, behavior. 

3. Estimate population size and monitor trends in abundance

Photo by: Dilum Alagiyawanna

          Need to monitor to gather info on patterns, ranges
          of their movement, and how they interact with
          environments so we can protect the habitats they need.
          (They are subject to changes and  are very dependent) 

4. Identify and protect essential habitats, 
          Improve knowledge of characteristics of important blue
          whale habitat. Needed for future assessments of the health
          of environments they need. Protecting those areas will
          ultimately protect them and further ensure survival.

5. Minimize or eliminate human-caused injury and mortality, 

6. Coordinate state, federal, and international recovery efforts.
          Promote international efforts to conserve. Promote action to
          protect areas of importance in our waters. 
7. Determine and minimize detrimental effects of vessel & aircraft
     interactions
          Reduce or Eliminate human-cashed injury and mortality.
          Implementation of appropriate
          measures designed to reduce or eliminate problems. Identify
          when and how they are affected by us. 

8. Maximize efforts to acquire scientific information from dead, stranded, and entangled animals.
          Make sure things don't go unrecorded. Obtain observations from fishery observer programs,
          whale watching vessels, researchers, or other sources that indicate entanglement. See if these
          are major threats, not just a threat.

                                          (http://ecos.fws.gov/recovery_plan/whale_blue.pdf)


                                                       What can YOU do to help?

• Support efforts to improve fishing gear by only buying seafood that is MSC certified. This can help to reduce the incidence of marine bycatch, which kills whales and other marine life like turtles, dolphins, and seabirds.
• Vote Earth by taking part in Earth Hour! As climate change is a growing threats for whales, we need to send a message to our leaders that warming must be limited to under 2 degrees Celsius.
• Make a symbolic whale adoption to help save some of the world's most engangered animals from extinction and support WWF's conservation efforts 
• Spread the word! 

Sources:
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/cetaceans/about/blue_whale/
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/blue-whale/
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/whales/species/Bluewhale.shtml
http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/education/marine-mammal-information/cetaceans/blue-whale.html
https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/blue-whale
http://www.edgeofexistence.org/mammals/species_info.php?id=88