In today’s world, it is so common for animals to find themselves in places they shouldn’t. This includes places that are now industrialized by humans and are extremely difficult to navigate, or places that are highly polluted. Sometimes there is very little we can do to help these animals. These situations can sometimes end up deadly, which unfortunately does not gain enough attention from the public. Preventing problems like this can be as easy as not littering and cutting the rings from a six-pack of pop.
A situation recently appeared in New York harbor. A young Minke whale was spotted by a helicopter swimming through the harbor, nearly into a waterway well-known for industrial pollution. Surprisingly, the whale seemed to be healthy. Scientists speculated that the whale followed a school of fish into the harbor without realizing its potential danger. The two most recent occurances of whales in the harbor were 1) a whale already dead after a collision with a boat and 2) a very sick whale that had to be nursed back to health for over 8 months. Needless to say it was very surprising that this young, healthy whale had ended up there.
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There was little concern that the whale would suffer any health effects from it’s short-term exposure to possibly polluted waterways. It was monitored overnight to make sure it did not enter the industrial waters, and the National Guard was stationed in case it was necessary to intervene.
If this story says anything, it says we need to respect nature for many reasons, one being the protection of stray animals. The world was theirs before it was ours, now we have restricted their living space. We need to make areas that animals could end up in safe and friendly to their existence.
Article from www.enn.com
