Whaling is a Big Issue

Whales play an important role in our environment. They greatly affect the food chain in the oceans, especially by consuming krill. A blue whale can consume 40 million krill a day, which has such a huge impact on our environment. Whales also emit large amounts of carbon, even rising up to 400,000 tons of carbon per year. If whales are being killed, the food chain will be threatened and changes in the food supply of other animals will come into effect. In 1986, a ban was set on whaling, which is the hunt of whales for meat and oil. Although this ban was set, almost 40,000 whales have been killed. They have been killed for “commercial sale.” The lives of whales are already being menaced by things such as pollution and ships disturbing their habitat, but the addition of whaling adds even more stress to these whales. The amount killed per year, 1,000, is sickening. Humans are, without a doubt, a whale’s biggest predator.

Source: Humane Society International