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
So sad, I just read a news report yesterday that the Minke Whale eventually died in the harbor before it was able to return to the ocean. Scientists were preparing for a necropsy (animal autopsy) and it will be very interesting to see what the results show.
Even the open ocean can be dangerous to animal health. I get a National Geographic podcast every week and a few weeks ago there was one on killer whales. A researcher was waiting for a specific group of transient whales to arrive in the harbor in California for the winter. The normally on-time whales were about three weeks late. Tests eventually showed that high levels of toxins were in their blubber. The experienced researcher, whose name escapes me, was extremely shocked at how much had accumulated. It’s speculated that this is a big factor in the whales late arrival. Again, biomagnification is harming the biggest and seemingly invincible creatures in the ocean. I just hope all of this data won’t come too late for something to be done.
Posted 1 year, 4 months ago