When the whaling industry started, it was difficult to catch blue whales. They were just too big. But around 1900, larger boats and more advanced harpoons made it possible to capture them, and they quickly became the ideal target. By the 60s, nearly 176,000 Antarctic blue whales had been killed.
In the past few decades, surveys of blue whales around Antarctica typically find one or two of them near the sites of old whaling stations. But recently, something amazing happened. Last year, scientists on a 3-week mission counted a total of fifty-five whales off the coast of one of the most popular former whaling sites. No one is exactly sure what caused this huge jump, but researchers are taking this as a good sign.
Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.
Today we’re going to focus on some positive news — a bright spot. Just listen closely…
Can you hear that?
Well, it’s actually below the range of human hearing, so let’s hear it sped up a bit. How about now?
That’s the song of the Antarctic blue whale.
Trevor Branch: Blue whales obviously are the biggest animals that have ever lived on the face of the planet, bigger than even the largest dinosaurs that lived.
Megan Hall: This is Trevor Branch:
Trevor Branch: I’m Associate Professor of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington.
Megan Hall: And we’re talking to him because he’s noticed something remarkable about blue whales— after years of near extinction, it looks like they’re coming back.
We had Alex Hanesworth and Fatima Husain from our Possibly team explore this story that’s making waves around the world. Welcome, Alex and Fatima.
Alex Hanesworth: Hi, Megan.
Fatima Husain: Hello!
Megan Hall: So, give me a little background on the history of blue whales.
Alex Hanesworth: Well, Trevor Branch says when the whaling industry started, it was difficult to catch blue whales. They were just too big. Blue whales weigh up to three-hundred-thirty thousand pounds and can grow up to 100 feet long!.
Fatima Husain: But around 1900, larger boats and more advanced harpoons made it possible to capture them, and they quickly became the ideal target.
Trevor Branch: because of their huge size, they also yield far more oil than any other whale species. So if the whalers had a choice, they would always target blue whales.
Alex Hanesworth: And that oil was used for lamps, soaps, and even margarine.
Fatima Husain: In 1904, an explorer claimed he saw thousands of Antarctic blue whales off the island of South Georgia3. So, the industry set up whaling stations there.
Trevor Branch: By the 1930-31 whaling season they caught more than 30,000 blue whales3. And by that time the numbers around South Georgia had pretty much dwindled to close to zero.
Alex Hanesworth: But that didn’t put an end to whaling there. By the 60s, nearly 176,000 Antarctic blue whales had been killed3.
Fatima Husain: So in 1967, the International Whaling Commission banned hunting blue whales. But the damage had been done.
Megan Hall: What’s happened since then?
Alex Hanesworth: Well, scientists do these long, multi-day surveys to count whales in the ocean. And they’d pass by South Georgia, the island with the whaling stations from decades ago.
Trevor Branch: This area around South Georgia, they’d only seen a couple of blue whales in a year there ever since whaling ended.
Alex Hanesworth: But recently, something amazing happened. Last year, scientists on a 3-week mission counted a total of FIFTY-FIVE whales off the coast of South Georgia.
Trevor Branch: It was amazing. That’s truly astonishing numbers of blue whales for an area where some people had said they wouldn’t ever come back.
Megan Hall: What explains this dramatic jump?
Alex Hanesworth: Trevor isn’t sure. He says the blue whale population is increasing by about eight percent a year, so you would expect to see more of them. But this huge sighting near South Georgia feels special.
Trevor Branch: The sudden jump suggests that something else is also happening there.
Fatima Husain: Whatever the reason, he’s taking this as a positive sign.
Trevor Branch: That was just a good year when the blue whales came back to South Georgia and great numbers for the first time in perhaps many decades.
Alex Hanesworth: Eventually, Trevor and other scientists might explore the why behind the return of the blue whales. But in this moment, he says it’s enough to just know that they’re still around— flocking to the place that once destroyed them.
Megan Hall: That’s a perfect ending. Thanks, Alex and Fatima! And thanks to Dr. Kate Stafford from the University of Washington for sharing her whale recording with us.
That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way you recycle, use energy, or make any other choice that affects the planet, go to the public’s radio dot org slash possibly.
Possibly is a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society and the Public’s Radio.
The post The return of the Antarctic Blue Whale appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio.