Meet the World’s Newest—and Most Endangered—Whale

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/10/06/take-look-could-be-most-endangered-whale-planet?cmpid=tpdaily-eml-2014-10-07


With a population of just 50, the whales found off the Florida coast face threats from oil and gas drilling.




October 06, 2014 By Taylor Hill

Taylor Hill is TakePart's associate environment and wildlife editor.


A genetically distinct group of whales—possibly an entirely new species—has been discovered off the coast of Florida’s Panhandle region.

That’s the good news. The bad news is, they could be the most endangered whales in the world.

Scientists discovered the genetically unique set of about 50 whales during recent research in the Gulf of Mexico. The whales, which are members of the Bryde’s (pronounced “broodus”) family, live year-round in the Gulf. They reside in an underwater canyon near Florida’s west coast, an area highly susceptible to offshore oil spills.

The Natural Resources Defense Council has petitioned the U.S. government list the whales as endangered, citing their tiny population and vulnerability.

FULL story at link.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

1. Fascinating to see a new species at a time when half of earth's fauna biomass is

now gone compared to 1970.

[Cha]

7. Exactly, ChiolmTrailDem!

[MohRokTah]

2. What humans have done to thes brilliant creatures saddens me to no end.

The brutality against these species is abhorent.

[Cha]

3. Interesting looking Whale.. Mahalo, Steve~

[Omaha Steve]

5. Mahalo

To you too. Such a compliment from a high number DUer..

OS

[Cha]

6. High number Shcmigh number.. important thing is quality.. but,

it is kind of surreal to still be here all this time after a lot of us got started during the bush coup. Except for two years when I took a break.

[Beringia]

4. thanks for sharing

[alittlelark]

8. I seem to remember a 'Star Trek' movie aboout this.......

.......

[liberal_at_heart]

9. what a beautiful animal, but they don't stand a chance against the oil lobby.

[ErikJ]

10. Ironic that it was oil that saved whales

when oil became substitituwe for whale oil

[DFW]

11. A whale feeding up close is an awesome sight to see. Check this out.......

Here's one off of Cape Cod that decided to give me a show last summer:
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If ever anyone asks me why we need to save these animals, I just show them these pictures and say HERE'S why!

[liberalla]

12. Another reason why we should save whales? Because they can help save us and the planet.

The Incredible Thing About Whale Poop Is That It Fights Climate Change

Yes, whale poop. We need MORE whales (not fewer) pooping in our oceans. The stuff is magic.



"...these "flocculent fecal plumes" happen to be laden with nutrients and are widely consumed by plankton, which in turn takes away carbon from the atmosphere when they photosynthesize, die, and wind up on the ocean floor. A previous study of the Southern Ocean, to cite just one example, indicated that sperm-whale defecation might remove hundreds of thousands of tons of atmospheric carbon each year by enhancing such plankton growth. Thus, these large whales "may help to buffer marine ecosystems from destabilizing stresses" like warmer temperatures and acidification, the researchers claim."


More at link, including how even in death they continue to make a difference environmentally.
(Natural death that is, not death by harpoon)

This piece of information makes the history of whaling all the more heinous and tragic.


tons of links
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=whale+poop+helps+environment+


DFW - beautiful photo!

[Enthusiast]

13. They contain oil, we must kill them.

[Omaha Steve]

14. Yep