Why Are So Many Gray Whales Washing Up On Shore?
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- Опубликовано: 27 ноя 2023
- From Mexico all the way up to Alaska, hundreds of gray whales have been washing up ashore. The deaths peaked in 2019, and the numbers were so significant that it led scientists to call it an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) which kicked research into gear. Scientists scrambled to figure out what was going on, and what they found turned their previous understanding on its head. This episode of Weathered explores gray whales' complex food web and how what’s happening in the Arctic may just affect all of us.
Weathered is a show hosted by weather expert Maiya May and produced by Balance Media that helps explain the most common natural disasters, what causes them, how they’re changing, and what we can do to prepare.
Seattle Times article on Makah whaling: www.seattletimes.com/seattle-...
Joshua Stewart study: www.science.org/doi/abs/10.11...
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As someone of Native American ancestry who is working in environmental and biodiversity conservation I understand the spiritual and cultural connections the Makah people have with the whales, but I'd suggest that those connections can be maintained in other ways that do not involve killing the whales. At this point whale meat is not a necessary resource, nor is whale bone or baleen. The act of hunting can be symbolically represented via other means that still maintain the connection, and potentially assist with research, conservation, and better understanding the whales themselves.
If bone and baleen are needed for certain cultural practices then first right to those from beached whales could be enacted as a policy.
Issues like this are part of what I work on in my position and in my experience there is nearly always a solution that meets the underlying needs in a non, or at least less, destructive manner. It usually just takes some careful thinking, mutually respectful discussion, and time for ideas to percolate and mature.
Thank you for sharing
I love this analysis and these suggestions. It's in perfect balance.
Your words hold a lot of wisdom
It is good to hear another perspective. It's not simply an ecological issue but an ethical one; as I have citied previously, whale death is inevitablely slow and stressful and painful, and the larger the animal the worse it is. This is something that makes egregious whether it's done for cultural reasons (as in this article ir say the practices of the Faroe Islanders) or commercial/habitual reasons such as in Japan.
It is a complex issue.
I wish you success and all the luck in your endeavor.
This was extremely well done. Historical, scientific, cultural, etc. So much covered in such a small video.
Major kudos to your entire team!!!
Odd how they don't mention how piles of whales an dolphins have been washing up recently cause of the Beijing Biden regime putting windmills out in the ocean
My thoughts: Exactly! Thx TragoudistrosMPH
And full of bloody lies, try an information source that is reputable.
@@grancitodos7318 ...and your reputable source is...?
@@TragoudistrosMPH I was working amongst the grey whales and the marine biologists who made the biopsies of the dead ones.
Here in New Zealand the native Maori people have rights to any whale that washes ashore. Whale bone is a traditional material for carving and far more valuable to the Maori than to non-maori.
The Blonde Maori from ancient Persia/Indus Valley would be proud too. The Phoenicians are everywhere, even in non-Maori. Serious culture that; I doubt we ever wasted a thing.
If they want naturally predeceased whales, no one should object. But killing live whales would be tragic. I don’t understand how any government would even consider it.
Whales are also washing up dead on the beaches due to the hits that they take from cargo ships. It's not uncommon for a cargo ship to kill a whale.
Also, sonar mapping of the ocean is deafening, whales go deaf or become stressed from these actions and sometimes beach themselves due to all of the confusion :T
Great point!
And dont forget all the pollution pumped into the ocean by china and others.....
Probably a lot (checking for sub & underwater drone activity maybe more than in past years) from the military in all concerned countries with all that is going on politically in the world.
The construction involved in the creation of offshore wind farms is killing whales too.
@@jaykilborn2508 Also noise pollution when completed, infrasound.
Imagine your AC kicks the can and everywhere you go is deafening, chaotic noise that's so loud you can barely hear AND the only food you can find is old, dried up french fries your sloppy roommate keeps dumping on your kitchen floor. You'd want to off yourself too.
Fascinating story. I'm glad they were able to identify the important variables and figure out the problem. Hope the situation stabilizes.
It is a good description of how difficult it is to find and develop evidence to support a theory. Whereas there are so many people that assert that they have complex questions like this completely understood after reading just one social media post.
They sorted out nothing, they just spewed a heap of lies, that are circulating among the big mouth know nothing sudo science idiots.
Well. Japan is dumping Fukushima nuclear radioactive waste water into the Pacific Ocean.
What could go wrong. 🤔
It is still on going.
@@cosmoray9750 The whales died from starvation, due to over population, where I live.
I occasionally see gray wales feeding off the bottom of the inland waters by our home in Washington state. Didn't realize they were a separate and unusual subgroup vs normal grey whales. Anecdotal but I can't recall ever seeing them in a group like other whale species - generally just one individual. Curious if this is instinctive or a learned behavior as calves? Does this imply they use a different method of group culture transmission than, for example, orca pods who continue to live and learn from each other throughout adulthood?
Thank you for your comment. It may be that the smaller whales are orphans. If their mothers starved on the way back north, the calves may have learned algae grubbing after her milk failed. Fewer whales may have been able to adopt.
Are you perhaps seeing the Sounders? - the group that feast on ghost shrimp in rivers at high tides?
Honestly I wasn't familiar with the sounders until googling just now after seeing your reply. It is very possible - the ones I've seen have been in the north end of the Whidbey basin. Unfortunately I don't have good enough pictures to make an id since by the time my phone camera is zoomed and focused they have submerged. Probably would need to have my dslr? @@theresjer
I saw one bottom feeding, for about 45 minutes, in Discovery Bay two summers ago@@curtisjohnson6735
I have seen grays feeding that way in Baja....maybe the amounts of calories from this feeding doesn't compare much to the massive krill school feeding....(?)
considering the population crash during the whaling era, could this have led to a genetic bottleneck that has made them genetically vulnerable as well?
I would argue that the relative intelligence of all cetaceans removes them from 'traditional right to hunt' lists. We know they are self aware to the degree that they recognize themselves as a distinct individual that is a part of a social group of individuals. We know they grieve for their dead.
I don't know. I did not grow up with the tradition. But I would argue that neither did the Makah. With the knowledge we have now, it feels a morally questionable action to take.
How to quantify this intelligence? What is the cut-off for a moral dinner?
Making it about intelligence, isn't this just making this just all about us, again?
@@archmage_of_the_aether Good questions. As the moral values in question are ours, I would argue that the morality bar is also ours to set.
We are, sadly, a sample size of one when it comes to intelligence. I think, with continued scientific enquiry , that will change.
More gray whales are killed by fishing gear than traditional hunting. Are you going to stop eating fish because it's morally questionable?
@@LisaBeergutHolst It's okay to eat fish because they don't have any feelings...
@@LisaBeergutHolst yes. Also, every year fish have more weird toxins in them.
Traditional practices are all well and good but I think the time has come where such practices should be reined in.
Even in my lifetime there have been things I was allowed to do as a kid (go fishing and catch as many as you want. Go hiking in areas that are now closed off for conservation purposes etc). But in the modern world with declining natural resources and increasing population, we have to forego many of our previous activities so as to make the situations sustainable.
As grey whale populations aren't huge and they are obviously under pressure from several causes, adding another pressure because it's nice for the people involved is a luxury that should be sacrificed for the whale's survival.
So these people already have a history of reining themselves in. If you knew how big this tribe was and how many whales they are proposing g to hunt you would understand it’s not I critical issue. They aren’t asking for luxuries, just the chance to practice a moderate amount of their traditions that have gone on for thousands of years. These peoples culture is based on these whales. They are the last ones that want to see them extinct
It’s not just “nice for the people involved,” did you not hear anything the Makah member said? It’s a spiritual, cultural practice that is part of what defines their very existence, and it’s kinky under threat because of the white man and global capitalism. Native tribes and indigenous populations are not responsible for the proliferation of the Industrial Revolution that has harmed our climate and delicate ecosystems so much. We have a lot to learn from slowing down to observe native people performing their sacred rituals and traditions. Asking them to sacrifice those AGAIN because of white people is incredibly missing the point.
@@andrewwalton6535 Traditions that have gone on for thousands of years are all well and good but unfortunately and as unfair as they my view it, traditions will have to change in the increasingly resource-depleted world of the future.
I'm sure if you could ask a whale what they thought about "traditions" they would have a drastically different take on it.
@@innocentnemesis3519 In light of the steadily declining whale populations I don't think it matters who or what is to blame.
It may be seen by these people as "unfair" but the fact remains that hunting these animals is putting another pressure on them that is contributing to their demise.
"Traditions" that extended over periods when whale numbers were essentially unlimited are an anachronism in a world of resource limitation.
Eight billion+ people on the planet will only lead to more and more restrictions being imposed to safeguard the shrinking natural world.
You may not like it. We all may not like increased regulation and limited freedoms but that's the price to pay for unlimited human growth and exploitation of the natural world.
@@garysheppard4028 Okay, let us know when you stop buying things transported by ship, which kill far more whales than traditional hunting.
The Mikah Tribe trying to bring back whaling is like CSX trying to bring back steam locomotives. Honor life in a better way, by not slaughtering them.
Wow, this episode of Weathered was eye-opening! It's alarming to hear about the Unusual Mortality Event affecting gray whales from Mexico to Alaska. The fact that the deaths peaked in 2019 and led to a reevaluation of our understanding of their complex food web is both fascinating and concerning. Kudos to Weathered for shedding light on the interconnectedness of ecosystems and how events in the Arctic can have widespread impacts. Maiya May's expertise make this show a valuable resource for understanding natural disasters and their implications. Looking forward to more insightful content!
It was all lies, studies of dead whales in Bahia Magdelena, revealed that they died from starvation caused by over population, and they feed the whole time they are here, so they don't rely on the food in Alaska. 10 months without eating, what a bloody stupid statement.
Fukishima waters.......
Very Good job, you guys are showing how complex these issues can be, but I am very pleased that you let the Makah have an important voice in your presentation.
The wind farms down that coast are decimating the migratory birds too!
I'm a birder living in SW Mexico. Every Fall I wait for the migrants; fewer every year. The Christmas Bird Count here may show something different. I hope so.
@sidstovell2177 I have visited the rapter center o Vancouver Island a few times over the last ten years, and they find a huge number of raptors dead in their wind farms every year. Funny if they find a raptor in an oil field trying pond the oil company gets fined hundreds of thousand dollars!
I never understood erecting giant bird killers in the name of “saving the planet.” The resources to make those things are astronomical, they deface nature, doesn’t make sense in any sense at all.
Nah, it more likely all the underwater military sonar system arrays screwing/jamming up the whales natural sonar.
Great job covering this subject! These topics need more public spotlight!
Wales are beautiful beings! These scientists are wonderful, doing amazing work 👏👏
In the small town of Eldridge, where tales of the supernatural were woven into the fabric of everyday life, a mysterious house stood abandoned for decades. Local whispers spoke of ghostly apparitions and eerie sounds emanating from within its decrepit walls. One brave soul, named Emma, decided to unravel the mysteries that cloaked the old house.
As Emma cautiously stepped through the creaking door, she felt an unsettling chill in the air. Dust danced in the faint light filtering through cracked windows. Determined, she explored room after room, discovering forgotten artifacts that hinted at a tragic past. In the dim hallway, she stumbled upon an old mirror with an ornate frame.
"Whales are beautiful beings! These scientists are wonderful, doing amazing work," whispered a disembodied voice, catching Emma off guard. As she gazed into the mirror, a reflection not her own stared back-an ethereal figure, frozen in despair. The ghostly presence whispered a haunting truth about the house's history-a tale of betrayal, lost love, and a curse that bound souls to the decaying structure.
Emma, now entwined in the supernatural web, felt an otherworldly force gripping her soul. The house seemed to come alive with anguished whispers and flickering shadows. Desperation filled the air as Emma realized she, too, was becoming part of the tragic narrative.
In a final, chilling moment, the mirror reflected a distorted version of Emma, trapped in the same despair as the ghostly apparitions. The house absorbed her essence, sealing her fate alongside the tormented souls of Eldridge. "Whales are beautiful beings! These scientists are wonderful, doing amazing work," she repeated, her voice now joining the chorus of sorrow within the haunted dwelling. The once-curious investigator became a permanent resident, eternally bound to the unique horror that lurked within its walls.
The Welch are, but I don't know what they're saying.
@@apocalypse487Bad!
Please continue this ground breaking research /observations .
I LOVE gray whales. I have been going on whale watches since I moved to California 30 years ago and it is amazing to see a whale in nature. I have seen gray moms and babies and killer whale families looking for gray whales to hunt, etc.
we're seeing a decline in these whales, and yet they still want to reinstate hunting? i don't understand
Yes, what about the whale's rights?
Hunting whales in this day and age is unnecessary and cruel.
After 100 years of not hunting whales, they want to pick up that torch again. Dirtbags probably found some market that wants to buy them and now it's a treaty issue.
The grey whale population has increased substantially in 100 years since the stop of commercial whaling . But now with a limited food source the individuals are competing for resources.
@@carinaekstrom1....INDEED, SO WHALES MUST VE BEEN HUNTED SO THEY WONT DIE OF HUNGER, HEHE
........BY THE WAY, WITH MODERN METHODS OF REGULATION THERE IS A NO WAY TO ALLOW THESE TO EXTINCT......
....SO, I SEE NO OBSTACLES AGAINST APPEARANCE OF CANNED WHALE MEAT ON SHELVES...........
.....AND YESSS, ALL SCREAMING AGAINST IT IS BASICALLY BABOON HERD INCTINCT HIERARCHY .......... ABOUT THOSE WHO SHOUTING SUCH A GIBBERISH WANT TO BE NOTED BY GERONTOCRATS TO HAVE A CHANCE TO BE PROMOTED ONTO HIGHER RANK IN SOCIETY, KIND OF LIKE THAT......... NOTHING ABOUT *_REAL_* THINGS, JUST A HIERARCHIAL BEHAVIOR
Excellent information thank you
Back in the day, I had an amazing experience in the South Atlantic while sailing from the Canary Is. to Saldana. S. Africa when a whale cruised alongside my boat and passed underneath back and forth a couple times. I couldn't identify the species, but it was about half again (40-45') as long as my 33' boat. I've also experienced paddling with Humpback whales and Orcas while kayaking the inside passage from Seattle, WA to Skagway, AK.
I grew up in Cape Town…….amongst the different types of whales were…southern right whales which migrate from Antarctica in summer…..brydes whales and humpback whales and also blue whales in the Atlantic but these are quite rare…..sadly I’ve seen false killer whales beached and pilot whales……and quite often the southern right whales are hit by cargo ships and wash up on shore……there must be many more which sink and are eaten and so are unaccounted for,
This is so informative! Great job, fantastic reporting!🌻🌼🐝 Keep it up 🙌
Seeing fitness (in the evolutionary sense) in action is so wonderful. Great for educating people about what the term genuinely means.
I'm not sure how I feel about the potential resumption of whaling by the Makah Tribe. I understand the cultural connection they have to the practise and that it wasn't their fault that the whale numbers declined so badly, that was obviously the fault of over harvesting by European commercial whalers. At the same time this species is still under significant pressure from climate change as these beachings demonstrate. There's also the question of whether its even ethical to hunt an intelligent animal like a whale in the first place.
EDIT: Having researched this more closely I've learned that the Eastern Pacific Gray Whale population is still only a fifth of what it was historically and that they've undergone a severe genetic bottleneck due to commercial whaling pressure on their population. Regardless of who is responsible for it that damage to the species has still been done and i just don't see how resumed whaling can be sustainable within that context. We can't breed this species in a zoo; if they die out in the wild they're gone forever.
I agree. Religion and culture are not a reason to hunt these beautiful sentient creatures. Commercial whaling should be 100% banned. Looking at you Japan and Iceland.
Everyone has cultural practices from the past, and many of those should stay in the past. We can do better now.
I too have very conflicted feelings about this. I would cite however that, as far as I'm aware, there's no 'humane' way to kill a whale, especially one so large. By that I mean quick, as painless and stressless as possible. In UK waters I feel the same about Faroe Island practices. Tradition... yeah some need to die out and while having respect for the ocean, spirituality is something that is easily warped.
However considering the myriad of challenges the ocean faces thanks to the 'developed' world - the decline in fish stocks of all kinds, extinction threats to nearly all sharks and the interdependence between large baleen whales and the fertilisation of the ocean - not to mention the killing of whales by Japan etc, it feels like this tribes practice is pretty low down on the list? I would worry that we're focusing too much on a small detail because the bigger picture is too overwhelming. It's mainly the protracted time it takes for a whale to die is... challenging.
It's very complicated. Ethical issues are. Who knew lol
I think that’s a Eurocentric way of viewing things. I’d like to hear from Native peoples speaking on this topic. To boil thousands of years of culture to “religion” just doesn’t do it any justice. That’s just me tho.
@@tonyhall1421 some cultural things just have to stop even if they’ve been done for thousands of years. Genital mutilation is another.
I love this woman. She speaks so well and that's so hard to find nowadays.
She is speaking from a script, but I'll bet in her real life, she doesn't add the inappropriate 'like' every third word.
I respect the Makah's tradition of whaling but under the circumstances I feel it is not right and frankly surprised they are advocating for it when clearly the whales are declining again. The Makah have learned to survive without whaling for 100 years, surely they could wait a few more years to see if the decline continues.
What decline? From actual research in gray whale stocks: "The population size of the ENP gray whale stock has increased over several decades" and " 22% increase in ENP gray whale abundance over 2010/2011 levels" and "Abundance estimates of PCFG whales increased from 1998 through 2004, remained stable for the period 2005-2010, and have steadily increased during the 2011-2015 time period". Source: NOAA Fisheries Pacific Marine Mammal Stock Assessments 2020. There is no decline and the proposed hunt is for 0.01% of the population (2-3 whales/year out of 20,000).
The Atlantic Gray Whale went extinct in the 1600’s . Genetic testing of the bones revealed that they were the same species . They theorized that they crossed the Arctic northwest passage that apparently wasn’t frozen at that point . At least I read it somewhere .
Another example of current day evolution
Time and time again I get surprised with the quality of the documentaries PBS produces
Why? PBS had nova.
Why? They've been producing high quality docs for decades , now.
Great work. Thank you so much.
What about the ones washing up on the east coast?
Excellent point! East coast groundings have increased dramatically in the last few years perfectly matching the timeframe of sound mapping and installations of wind turbines. Odd (or maybe intentional?)they don’t even mention in this vid.
Is there a way to address the food source to the bottom grasses decline? Will the algae grow on anything other than sea ice?
I’m a horticulturist in Rome GA digging in the dirt for way over 30yrs. Insect populations have dwindled to almost none. Body size of beetles like ladybugs have decreased in few yrs. No earthworms locally for 3 yrs and no fly larvae in trash cans. Very few birds now as well.
Very good documentary. Didn't know anything about gray whales.
Great informative clip!
And the reporter/host was very good, too!
There was a travel food show I saw a while back that had them trying whale dishes from an island nation, they spoke about it and still hunt whales on occasion (I assume a different nation than this one since he said they don’t eat whales)
Culture is just a repetition of actions. Just as the pacific coast feeding group learned to do handstands, and find new food. So should the Makah nation, there is no real reason to kill these creatures.
Thank you. Tradition is peer pressure from dead people. There are a ton of things that every society used to do that they stopped once realizing it wasn't cool. If your spirituality is dependent on killing an animal for no reason, maybe take a step back and think about that.
Thank you Maiya for another insightful video. Love the content and the heart!
The infrasound from the wind turbines disrupts their echo navigation abilities!
It makes me terribly sad
the magnificent complexity of it all, the myriad facets to consider; leaving me awe-struck and so so sad.
Are they finding plastic in their stomachs?
great host
Wasn't it last year that they called the crab fishing season since they couldn't find many in that region? Heating the ocean to hot tub level temperatures is going to kill off food sources for us humans as well and it will be tough since that nutrition can't easily be replaced on land. I don't think N. Korea's middle testing is looking good for ocean life in the Pacific anyways!
In an ever-changing system, just what is "a balanced system" and how do we go about obtaining this elusive balance?
Time for the indigenous tribes to evolve too.
AS ALWAYS, MAIYA HIGHLIGHTS INFORMATION I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE! I LOVE THIS IMPORTANT SCIENCE & NATURE CHANNEL!
I live in Sitka Alaska ;Greywhales make a 1 2 week stop here late march after the herring spawn
I still think sonar plays a big factor and other noise pollution
Thank you 🙏
So there’s enough algae in the water, it’s just not falling all the way to the sea bed. But algae grows on ice and there’s less ice, but there’s still enough algae. Seems like there’s a major missing link. Algae doesn’t need ice to grow, but somehow algae is staying suspended in the water. Does algae need cold water that melts off the ice to drag them to the bottom? Are there water currents that aren’t being sustained because there’s no ice? What else could be causing algae to stay suspended?
Being bigger helps against the cold aswell ... Having them finding food elsewhere doest create the need for the same mass to stay warm..
Seeing the whales feeding head down tail up reminds me of redfish feeding in the shallows , very cool
With current knowledge showing that whales have near human sentience. I don't see how they could continue to hunt them, even if it is tradition.
We wouldn't allow a native tribe to make human sacrifices (using an exteme example), just because it was part of their culture.
And with current knowledge of their sentience, maybe the tradition should be changed to a form of reverence that doesn't involve killing the creature that means so much to the tradition.
I think its super cool that we've maybe figured out this mystery. Ecology is fascinating. I wish society was more connected or informed about this stuff. Might help guide our decision and impacts.
That said, I also think it's arrogant for humans to think they can control everything and keep everything static. Everything always changes. All species evolve or go extinct. The whales will too..and so will humans.
It is highly advantageous for us as human beings if human beings do not go extinct. Trying to retain the conditions that prevent that is imperative for that reason.
We are literally CREATING this problem and you are saying we aren't responsible, it's just "change"? Jesus.
Humans aren't trying to "keep everything static." Individual humans act to suck up even more of the planet's resources to feed into the global economy thereby exchanging them for a greater piece of the economy's wealth. The resources aren't one thing, they're everything and anything that can find some value to someone else in the economy. Animal, vegetable, mineral - anything that can be eaten, or fed, or can fertilize, or can be burned, or can be pounded into a new road surface. That's not keeping everything static, it's consuming everything for the momentary local gain.
@@Providence83 climate change is beneficial to humans.
@@knocknwalk do whales have value? If so, then the economy will ensure they survive.
Gray whales have been around for approximately 100,000 years. They have survived warming and cooling cycles no problem.
Noise, sonar use, to many cargo and other boats on area are reason to dissorientate and even deafening whales in our area
Snow craps appear to be having problems too. Is there a connection?
I'm Canadian & worked for the Dept Fisheries & Oceans for 30 years. I saw a lot of Western management processes fail - in my opinion it was largely because of the application stability-based european laws in an infinitely varying environment. Fish & marine mammal stocks/populations reflect this variation in their abundance & structure. Denying fishery opportunities due to stocks/populations not being at a high abundance is - in my opinion - wrong. I believe that the Makah should return to whaling and wish them good harvests & happy lives.
I feel that the ones that hunt animals should be some of the strongest supporters for conservation and awareness. Like having to live with knowing where your hotdog came from and telling everyone at dinner exactly what chops of meat went into it.
Thanks for the video... 1love.
Allowing a tribe to legally kill whales is ridiculous! This practice was stopped by the tribe itself in the 1920s ("supposedly"). Do we want to live in the 1920s or do we want to live in the 2020s? Lets make a better future for us and the whales!
Where I'm from they say that great whales come near the shores to tell us that it's time to plant the kūmara. Sometimes we don't listen, so they come too close.
Look at all the windmills and the sound they make in the water.
My question is this:
If we know that the algae is what the whales needs to supply the amphipods with food, then why can't we supply the amphipods with dead algae?
I have watched nature programs as far back as the 50's, and I have never seen algae on the bottom of ice.
Thinking of the PCFG whales, I wonder if ecosystem fragmentation might eventually lead to the evolution of 'pygmy whales,' that live in 'island' systems surrounded by nutritionally barren areas?
global events such as climate change will always be effecting different parts of the world differently for example the poles warm up faster than the warming parts of the world
I always go back to Shakyamuni Buddha and a timeless story of universal morals that are applicable regardless of traditions or local culture:
“Shakyamuni was once asked the following question: "We are told that life is precious. And yet all people live by killing and eating other living beings. Which living beings may we kill and which living beings must we not kill?" To this simple expression of doubt, Shakyamuni replied, "It is enough to kill the will to kill!”
Shakyamuni's response is neither evasion nor deception but is based on the concept of dependent origination. He is saying that, in seeking the kind of harmonious relationship expressed by respect for the sanctity of life, we must not limit ourselves to the phenomenal level where hostility and conflict (in this case, which living beings it is acceptable to kill and which not) undeniably exist. We must seek harmony on a deeper level-a level where it is truly possible to "kill the will to kill."
-Daisaku Ikeda in My Dear Friends in America, first edition, pp. 129-30
"Hey we saved the grey whales, their numbers are booming! Too bad the environment can't support them anymore." This is why we can't have nice things
Saying "there is a void there" is saying there is a large gap in our food source, to me it looks like the Wales where beaching themselves right where the food gap occured, your video put that info out, I just picked up on it. Maybe we need less predation and more electric powered whales.
What about Fukushima? And all that radioactive water and ……
Both polar caps are being drilled by numerous countries for all kinds of reasons that never needed to happen. This leaves the ice vulnerable to breaking off and dying. Across the South pole you can see train tracks, large trucks, huge construction jobs etc even under the water. THAT IS WHY THE ICE IS DYING. AND WHAT ARE THEY DRILLING FOR?
Thank you.
Underwater sound pollution is most likely causing serious issues with their echo location on top of environmental factors. Just look at the uprise in Orca’s attaching boats.
Has there been any seismic blasting dune up there,
Don't know what to think but a possible, anybody test for nuclear contamination from the tsunami event in Japan? = what year was that?
Cool! We are able to see adaptation of species.
The Gray Whale didn’t go extinct when the Bearing Straight was exposed by lower sea levels because this “Pacific Coast” sub group is the normal population.
So did this happen last time in 2000?
Not gonna lie, every time I see Maiya in a video, it's a joyous day. Not only is she a beautiful, she's got the brains as well!
Very interesting thing to hear first thing in morning, knowing how global warming is the Arctic, gray whales ability to eat better, and I'm sure it's affecting polar bears and other life forms dependent on the stability and dependability of Arctic ice. Canaries in the coal mine ? Yes ! Very thorough reporting so thank you!
I'm sure one day we will live in peace with animals without killing any of them and by preserving their environment
In my view it is about the melting of sea ice, it changes salinity and temperature( adding fresh water which changes currents) hence migration changes. Living in a polluted environment is the cause of washing on to shore especially as a mud sucker. Living in Nor Cal have not seen any Grays yet which is weird. Everything changes!!!
Its the pollution not just your interpretation of what pollution is but what it is in the bigger picture
Is there no influence on the whales from the Fukishima spill?
I think this current generation of children will see the end of whales. It seems almost inevitable that large mammals are going to die off.
A bump in the geologic time scale, cetaceans first showed up around 50 million years ago. A mere blip out of Earth's 4.5 billion years, hominins showed up around 2mya. I wonder which will be extinct sooner, cetatceans or Homo sapiens.
nah
The sea floor is also littered with garbage from humans.
I’d imagine based on other whaling tribes consumption that the Makah only need like 2 whales each year. It’s not going to have an impact like commercial whaling and over harvesting. I think allowing them to whale as long as it’s not harming the greater population is fine.
*This is correct.* Their request is for "at most two to three whales per year" out of a population of 20,000. NOAA Fisheries (who received their application) writes that "600-800 individuals could be removed annually from the population without affecting the stock’s optimum sustainable population size". Their website has lots of details and numbers, see the page titled "Makah Tribal Whale Hunt Frequently Asked Questions".
Thanks! Science rocks!
I used to think it was the U.S. Navy's use of ELF on their submarines which made whales beach themselves.
No discussion on the whales echolocation system? No talk of ocean noise from ship engines and possible disruptions of this important aspect of whale navigation capacity? Disorientation caused by foreign sounds in the ocean. Seems disingenuous with this omission.
Record Pollock fish levels have depleted the bottom food chain. The snow Crabs have been eaten out of existence by the record fish numbers as well.
"oh I can't go for that, oh no, no can do" 😅
Seems like a healthy environment would allow for more population but the environment is challenged with unnatural influences
I think that the things we now understand about the intelligence and familial interactions of whales should support a total ban on whale hunting, period.
The Makah have lived without hunting the Gray Whales for a long time. Their elders have already made the decision to not hunt their brothers to help the Gray Whale population to recover and begin to grow once again. The hunt is important to the tribe, but it should be more important to the tribal members to know they have not contributed to the demise of the species.
The Makah People should be granted by law first rights to any Gray Whales which wash ashore.
Question? Are there any other tribal groups where the Gray Whale is this significant to their culture? If so, shouldn't they have an equal say about the management of these populations?
oceanic vents and sulfur dioxide ... the internal pressure is increasing and the acidification of the seas will also increase ... It's weird like being in a movie finding pieces that add to the eventual effect or finding causes ...huh?
Fukushima nuclear disaster killed the plankton. Salmon collapsed, cod fishery closed in Alaska, tide pools are dead.
Possible way to find out whether the PCFG populations evolved to be smaller because of nutrition loss over time or whether it was advantageous to be smaller (i.e. the smaller whale can reach more food, therefore they grow older and make more bebes)
Isotope testing of grey whale fossils and seeing if the healthier animal had a healthier diet. Grand pappy was smol.
Or if it was a gradual die off event and being big just cost too much calories.
Locations of recovered fossils would help plot that trend as well. Carbon dating and whatnot 🧬🔬👩🏼🔬
If anyone knows the name of the scientist lady (shoutout to ladies in STEM!) who was speaking about those whales at 7:48 please pass along my idea 😅
I’m not a marine biologist. I just play one on TV 🎭 😂
Also I’d like to follow her on the sosh meeds if she has a linked in or insta.
Thank you PBS for always bringing amazing content to the public. 🙏🏼
Is this correlated with the crash of the crab population in that same region, too?
This may be various water disease like chemicals spot in water caused whales and fishes hard to breathe due less oxygen.
Same as on land somewhere has less air for people to breathe like air quality.
That’s why chemicals like nuclear waste water should not discarded in Ocean.