Great Whales Still Face Grave Threats
by Gershon Cohen, Ph.D. — Co-Director, Great Whale Conservancy
A magnificent Blue Whale fluke (Image courtesy of Michael Fishbach, Great Whale Conservancy)
The Great Whales need our help. They face multiple threats today in many parts of the world: “scientific whaling,” ship strikes, habitat encroachment, decreasing food supplies, ocean acidification, etc.; it is up to us to take on these threats and do what we can to protect these magnificent, sentient beings.
The Great Whale Conservancy was created in 2010 to answer this call, and the first problem we are focusing on is the ship strike issue that plagues whales in oceans around the planet –where great whales and cargo ships, oil tankers, and cruise ships try to occupy the same place at the same time. The whales have no choice: they need to follow their food and consumes tons of protein every day to survive. The ships have a choice: they can adjust their transits to minimize the time they spend in Great Whale habitat. Read more
