Whales Endangered and Conservation

Whales Endangered

It does seem ironic that whales have no natural predators, yet they continue to be endangered. Sadly, this is due to man and the issues that we have created for them.

Between hunting them for food and sport and destroying their natural environment they are in trouble. Thankfully conservation efforts are in place to help get their numbers back up.

You have to remember that whales don’t reproduce until they are from 7 to 10 years of age. Therefore the concern is that we can’t immediately increase their numbers. Therefore we have to stop them from plummeting even lower. The World Wildlife Foundation, known as WWF, is a leader in such efforts. They definitely want to make sure that people are aware of what the full situation is. They continue to work with military too because some of their efforts with sonar have lead to problems for whales and they want it to be corrected.

They are also working closely with the International Whaling Commission to make regulations for hunting. The goal is to get agreements in place that work for everyone involved. It is also to make sure the laws are in place for all areas so that they aren’t issues with political red tape to have to work through all the time.

They are advocates for harsher laws too for the illegal hunting of whales. When people realize that they can be fined huge amounts or serving jail time for those activities it will hopefully serve as a huge deterrent. They are also looking to get regulations out there on the trade of whale meat. Most of it is done illegally. Yet there are also concerns that individuals will go without access to the food they need if that whale meat is removed from their access. Therefore efforts are being made to find a better alternative for them as well.

You will notice that most of the conservation efforts are on the great whale species. This is because they continue to be the primary targets of destruction. Not all whales out there are endangered and that is important to understand as well. Still, the conservation efforts can help all of them. They can provide information and protection for the all of the species of whales out there.

To help with the immediate problem of needing to increase numbers of endangered whales, there are efforts to help those in captivity with other forms of breeding. However, it is important to realize that the incubation period can be from 10 to 16 months for a single calf to be born. Therefore these efforts are going to be time consuming. Even so, if we approach the problem from both sides we will have more success than if we only focus efforts on one side of it.

The concept of taking care of the environment is also a way to help whales. By keeping our waters clean we won’t expose them to oil and harmful chemicals. By taking care of the resources we have we can stop the further destruction of their natural habitat. Research for their migration routes can help to keep them out of the harm of boats and fishing as well.

There is plenty of information online about whale endangerment and the conservation efforts. You can find out how to help support such programs. For example you can help to educate people in your community about what is going on. You can also help to raise money to help with such efforts. Go to the websites of these foundations so you can feel good about your involvement with whale conservation efforts. The more people that take part in it, the more successful they will be.