From EurekAlert!
Public Release: 19-Dec-2018
The second largest whale in the world slows the build-up of CO2 in the sea
The rise in the population of these animals off the coast of Catalonia has been studied in a research project led by the EDMAKTUB Association, in which the University of Extremadura is a participant
University of Extremadura
Climate change has also brought important transformations to the animal world. This has been made clear by studies carried out since 2011 by the EDMAKTUB Association (an NGO), on which the UEx professor Daniel Patón has collaborated.
This team of experts has been able to observe how the fin whale or common rorqual (Balaenoptera physalus), the largest cetacean in the world after the blue whale, has increased its population on the Catalonian coast over recent years.
Indeed, according to the annual sightings report compiled by EDMAKTUB, in 2017 alone over 300 whales were spotted, if we add together those recorded by the scientific team (102 animals) and the notifications by the network of fishermen and mariners collaborating in the project (a total of 155 reports with over 200 whales observed). This increase is principally because they have found in these waters a major concentration of food. Further, by using drones it has been possible to see how they filter-feed, swallowing the mass of copepods and expelling the water like a colander or sieve.
In fact, and from the perspective of a scientist, Professor Daniel Patón, of the Department of Plant Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences at the UEx, explains that the rise in temperature and radiation is making the levels of chlorophyll in the seas go up.
“This, combined with the nutrients brought by the rivers and agricultural phosphates, is prompting an increase in the phytoplankton, and therefore of the zooplankton (krill and marine copepods), which is the principal source of food of this cetacean and is what makes them concentrate in these zones”, according to Patón.
Specifically, the conclusions point to this increase in zooplankton as the cause of the rise in the whale populations, and these “are the great carbon sinks of the seas”. In other words, according to this UEx professor, the whales are helping us to reverse the damage of global warming.
UEx contribution
For this marine biology investigation, the major contribution of the University of Extremadura has been the development of a geographical information system using a large neural network. “This is a computer model which allows the different variables which we have seen exert an influence, such as the chlorophyll, temperature, salinity and bathymetry, to be collated. These data let us understand and learn why one of the largest animals on the planet behaves in a specific way”. Bringing all these variables together, it is possible to discover the whale behaviour and plot maps of the western Mediterranean. For this project, the researchers have used open-source software tools (R and QGIS) running in Linux environments.
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Reference:
Eduard Degollada, Beatriu Tort, Natalia Amigó, Cristina Martín, Daniel Patón. “A GIS Variability Model of Distribution of Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus L.) in Catalonian Coasts (NE Spain)”. (2019) Cetaceans: Evolution, Behavior and Conservation. Nova Science Publishers, NY, USA. ISBN: 978-1-53614-998-2
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Catalonia’s Köppen climate classification Csa. Still Csa. It hasn’t changed. Catalonia HAS NOT HAD CLIMATE CHANGE.
I like it. Whether or not the Koppen classification has changed should be the definitive test for climate change.
I am glad for the Spanish that the Finn whales have found their way there but this only means that there are less Finn whales in the areas where they came from. Furthermore, what is an increase if you have no basis for comparison? And the CO2 exhaled by the whales does not dissolve in the ocean? But most of all,, the increase in whale populations is the result of the international ban on commercial whaling and maybe now the whale generation with vivid memory of the whaling era is dying and the younger generations are not so averse to human proximity, after all whales are considered to be smart animals..
Re: ” . . . the conclusions point to this increase in zooplankton as the cause of the rise in the whale populations, and these ‘are the great carbon sinks of the seas’. ” Someone has got this round the wrong way. It is the PLANKTON – not the ef-Finn whales that are the great carbon sinks of the seas.
LetsFreakAlert has turned into Chicken Little central. Wasn’t always the case. What happened?
You must go back a long way then. Please cite an example of a reasonable article published by EurekAlert!
Certainly you won’t find anything climate related.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science has been making an AAAS of themselves for a long time.
I always knew the whales would win in the end.
When we are no longer allowed to use fossil fuels, we can go back to whaling. We will need something to light those lamps!
In fact, and from the perspective of a scientist, Professor Daniel Patón, of the Department of Plant Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences at the UEx, explains that the rise in temperature and radiation is making the levels of chlorophyll in the seas go up.
Has this been published? I am aware of a few studies of increased marine growth in response to increased CO2, but not a general statement about “levels of chlorophyll”. How much do we want to generalize from the Coast of Catalonia?
It stands to reason that if recent increases in atmospheric CO2 has resulted in world-wide tree canopy increases the size of Alaska plus Texas, there will be a similar increase in marine life. The oceans cover more than 70% of the earths surface and CO2 is the feed-stock for carbon-based life.
Global Warming Saves the Whales!
Looking at the obverse, the huge decline of cachalots due to commercial whaling in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries must have led to an exponential growth in zooplankton with a corresponding decline in phytoplankton. Perhaps a biomass scientist could crunch the numbers as to what effect this may have had on atmospheric CO2
https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-samsung&ei=t0crXJgmqeiuBO7gveAL&q=common+rorqual+etymology&oq=common+rorqual+ety&gs_l=mobile-gws-wiz-serp.