Tag : Whales

Washington: After blue whales, fin whales are the largest whales in the world and human beings have hunted both species to near-extinction. After the ban on commercial whaling in 1976, the stocks of these long-lived, but slow-growing creatures are rebounding: researchers have witnessed large groups of up to 150 southern fin whales in their historical feeding areas more than has ever been documented before using modern methods. Given these whales' key role in nutrient recycling, other species in the Antarctic ecosystem, like the krill, could also benefit from their rebounding numbers. "I'd never seen so many whales in one place before and was absolutely fascinated watching these massive groups feed," enthuses Prof Bettina Meyer, a biologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and at the University of Oldenburg as well as the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity, who is a co-author of the current study in Scientific Reports. From March to May 2018, she led an expedition with the research icebreaker Polarstern in the region of the Antarctic Peninsula, during which groups of up to 50 or even 70 fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus quoyi) were observed. The expedition investigated e.g. the effects of climate change on the Antarctic krill, which forms the basis of the Antarctic food web; growing up to six centimetres long. The tiny bioluminescent crustaceans are a prime food source for fish, penguins, seals and whales. During the expedition, a team led by the study's first author Dr Helena Herr from Universitat Hamburg and a camera team from the BBC jointly used the Polarstern's onboard helicopter for survey flights, counting and filming the whale stocks. On 22 flights, the t ...