The article Most Whales Deaths In Past Caused By Humans by Daniel Cressey explains that humans have been a major part in killing whales in the past. The article tells that in the northern Atlantic Ocean between 1970 and 2009 that ‘human interactions’ was at 67% for the death of whales. Whales getting caught in fishing gear was the main cause of death from the category ‘human interaction’. Humans also cause death of whales by hitting them with ships and killing them. These are the two main ways that humans cause the death of whales.
In addition to stating ways humans have decrease the whale population, the article also suggests multiple ways humans can try to lessen the number of whale deaths. One suggestion the article makes is the change of where ships travel in the Atlantic to keep them away from areas where numerous whales that are dying from this cause. Also suggested in the article was that fishermen should not release fishing nets in large whale populated areas of the Atlantic. Overall, this article talked about the ways that humans have helped the whale population decrease, and in return ways that humans can help the whale population grow.A important quote from the article is,
“ An analysis of four decades of whale deaths shows that attempts to prevent them have not had a demonstrable impact.” This is an important quote from the article because it tells that humans have attempted to stop their causes of killing whales. Even though the quote also states that their attempts have failed to work it shows that humans have put in effort to help the whale population regrow. By having this quote in the article it stresses that humans will try to fix the problem they have made for the whale population.
After reading this article I was shocked that the main cause of whales deaths are from humans, even though that I knew they played a significant role in their population decrease. Before reading this article I did not know that whales could be killed from being hit by ships and this fact surprised me because I did not think that ships would hit a whale. Since whales are so big I assumed that ships would be able to see them in advance and go around them. Also I was surprised that the causes of whale deaths from humans was from being caught in fishing nets or being hit by ships because I had read that whales were hunted. Having read that whales were hunted I figured that that would be the main cause of death from humans but it was not the case. Lastly, after reading this article I hope that humans will try to stop killing whales because I think that they are a magnificent animal and it would be sad if they no longer existed.
Original Article: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=most-whale-deaths-in-past-40-years-were-caused-by-humans
Image: http://www.google.com/imgres?num=10&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1440&bih=809&tbm=isch&tbnid=9tAgqbYBEf5whM:&imgrefurl=http://cetaceans.tumblr.com/post/769323516&docid=94ZPi9cQJdFLzM&imgurl=http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5hr6sE0Vo1qc8j5w.jpg&w=500&h=332&ei=KcR0UJyRMOm10AG01oCYCg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=371&vpy=303&dur=1186&hovh=183&hovw=276&tx=119&ty=98&sig=113689242745244279034&page=1&tbnh=133&tbnw=184&start=0&ndsp=25&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:0,i:181
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis post is very interesting. I was also very surprised when I found out that humans are the main cause of whale deaths. I was glad to read that humans tried to stop killing whales. Even though they failed, they need to not give up and try harder. It is essential that humans try harder because whales are probably very important to the food web. Many organisms are being impacted from the loss of whales. I think that fishing should be banned in places where whales live. If humans keep on killing whales at this pace, will whales become extinct?
ReplyDeleteDanielle i agree with your comments at the end about the fact that humans are the main cause from (most likely) accidental reasons. I also thought that the fact that we hunt them would be the main reason of death for them. Although we are the main cause of their fatalities, it is good that we are trying to fix that. I was very shocked that two out of three whales were being killed by humans. But i was more shocked about the causes of the deaths. hopefully the laws pass about there being no fishing in areas with high whale populations because it is not good for any animal to ever go extinct. To be honest though I am quite a bit skeptical about all the fisherman giving up their fishing spots because they need to make money and when money is involved it can make people very selfish. Good job though!
ReplyDeleteDanielle, your article was very interesting. I knew that we are main reason for many animals to become endangered. But I thought that whales where endangered from pollution and other things we do to the earth. I didn't know that we actually did the hand on damage. That makes me sad, but I am happy to hear that the population is increasing. But something I didn't get is, how can people not drive their boats in the areas. I don't know if they know exactly where they are. But I hope people try to not kill the whales! Good job Danielle!
ReplyDeleteThis was a very fascinating article. I have always known that people played a big part in the death of whales, but I did not know that whales were killed by fishing nets. Also, I knew that people were trying to save the whales, but I did not know how insignificant our efforts to save them were. Whales are an important animal in the ocean community and if they were to die out because of humans we would have a direct repercussion on our aquatic food supply. I agree that people should change the routes that boats take in the Atlantic to not go through areas of large whale populations so that the whales will not get hit by the boats.
ReplyDeleteThis article is very interesting. I knew that humans played a role in hunting and killing whales in the past. But the number 67% surprised me. I thought that the number was smaller because of humans are trying to prevent the deaths of whales. I didn't know that our actions aren't affecting them as much as I thought. Humans have hunted whales in the past for the oil. And now a days, they are trying to stop it by build better nets. But I didn't know that they are going as far as to shut down areas in the Atlantic to let the whales repopulate. I think that this will have a significant effect on the fishing economy and it is convenient of many ships. But keeping these amazing creatures alive would be worth it.
ReplyDelete