There are plenty of good reasons to protect whales and dolphins. First among them is the fact that they are self-aware, cognitively complex animals with highly evolved social intelligence. I consider it morally imperative that they be left alone for those reasons most of all. But if you need a more practical argument, consider that they are also crucial to the fight against climate change. We are in an emergency, one that seems certain to prove an existential threat, and we need to win on every front if we’re to have a chance to prevail.
In that sense, a continuation of whaling is irresponsible in the extreme. It’s counter-productive to the best interests of our fellow human beings. Whales and dolphins do their part in the battle against climate change. We need to let them play their role.
Whales remove carbon from the system and store it in their bodies when they eat phytoplankton. These microscopic marine creatures are at the base of the ocean’s food chain. The carbon dioxide they absorb from the atmosphere by photosynthesis then moves up the food chain when they are eaten. The carbon that is not released as CO2 by the whales when they exhale concentrates in their bodies over time. It’s taken to the ocean floor when they die.
They are a crucial part of nature’s natural cycle. Their feces contains nutrients which in turn fertilize and nourish the phytoplankton. When you consider that the oxygen released by these tiny creatures makes up about half of what’s in our atmosphere, you begin to appreciate the importance of these cycles. To maintain a balance we need healthy oceans every bit as much as we need our forests.
So how are whales and dolphins themselves affected by climate change?
The rapid warming of our seas is leading to habitat loss and increased competition for a diminishing amount of available food. For whales and dolphins it also affects the timing of their migrations, as well as the range they can cover. Many live in seas that border land to the north or south, and are unable to alter their range to take advantage of cooler seas. This would be true of cetaceans living in the northern part of the Indian Ocean, for example. These factors impact their ability to find food and to reproduce. Unless radical actions are taken, some populations are very unlikely to survive.
It would be welcome news if more people cared for the sake of the whales themselves—but with many the economic argument can be decisive. OK, so let’s look at the value of whales from that perspective. Economists at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) studied this to see if they could come up with arguments that could influence policy makers. So how much is a whale worth? With the economic benefits whales provide via industries like ecotourism, added to the carbon they remove from the atmosphere when their carbon-dense bodies sink to the bottom at life’s end, these researchers estimated that one whale is worth about $2 million over its lifetime.
Further, they estimated that at this rate the present global population of whales is worth about $1 trillion. That suggests a population of about 500,000 individuals. Meaning that the more than 3 million whales we killed in the 20th Century today would be worth about $6 trillion! It’s also worth noting that the price of a whale as a measure of economic benefit will also rise with the price of carbon. The IMF recently proposed taxing carbon at $75 per ton . Using that figure, a whale’s value over its lifetime jumps from $2 million to more than $5 million.
So we can back up the assertion that they are valuable, in an economic sense. But how would we put a number on the fact that they are essential to maintaining the entire ocean eco-system?
Climate policymakers need to understand the enormous role of whales and dolphins in helping us achieve our climate targets, by restoring a healthy ocean and a healthy planet. This would provide the motivation to take measures to help them – e.g. supporting initiatives to locate and remove so-called ‘ghost gear’ (mostly discarded fishing gear) or mandating speed limits or the use of specific routes that avoid primary habitat, in order to reduce boat collisions. We know that these things work when we take the trouble to implement and enforce them.
When it comes to whales, what we especially don’t need to be doing is deliberately killing them. Any government that allows whaling is doing a tremendous disservice to the battle against climate change. It not only deprives the whales of any rights you may or may not believe they should have, it also denies our children their futures on a healthy planet.
Whales and humans are in this together – saving them means saving ourselves. Whales are doing their part, and it’s time we did ours, by taking the actions necessary to ensure that they can thrive.
We need more research into the contribution whales make in maintaining a healthy planet, but we already can make a compelling case with which to effectively lobby governments. Our policymakers absolutely need to include whale conservation in their plans to tackle the climate emergency.
We can state with certainty that a living whale represents far greater value than the market price of a dead one. The problem is that their value alive is to everybody. Their value dead is entirely to the people who wield the harpoons. But think about that for a moment, consider the crass selfishness and greed necessary to get into the whaling business, given what we know today. You need to maintain an utter disregard for the wellbeing of your fellow men and women if you intend to earn your living in this way.
When we kill whales and dolphins, we don’t just kill sentient, sapient individuals with families, languages and cultures. We do ourselves and our world enormous harm. Allowing whale populations a chance to recover will have an tremendous positive impact on climate change. More whales will mean less carbon accumulating in our atmosphere, healthier oceans, and a much improved chance for all of us to prosper well into the future.
For The Orca’s Voice,
Dakota, Canadian Cetacean Alliance
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