Happy World Whale Day!
World Whale Day is celebrated on the 16th of February. World Whale Day is a day to celebrate Whales, and everything about these amazing animals, while also being a day to raise awareness about the worlds Whales. This year marks the 39th World Whale Day, as it was founded in 1980. Therefore, next year will mark a big year for World Whale Day, as we will be celebrating the 40th annual World Whale Day event.
Whales are one of the most iconic and well loved animals. Whale-watching is one of the most popular wildlife activities, people all around the world take part in Whale-watching - where they hope to catch a glimpse of these majestic animals. Whale-watching is so popular, that it generates $2 billion for the world economy annually.
People can watch Whales in several different coastal regions and oceans across the world. There is a small population of Whales in the North Atlantic ocean, the WWF estimates that there are around 300 individual Whales in the North Atlantic ocean today. Whales can be found in other places in the world, including off the coast of Africa, and off the coast of Australia. Most famously, Whales are found in one of the coldest places on Earth - the Arctic.
Today, Whales as a whole are an endangered species, but there are different species of Whale. There are thirteen different species of Whale. Out of those thirteen different species of Whale, six of them today are endangered, and at risk of extinction in the future. It is estimated by the WWF, that there are between 10,000 and 90,000 Whales living today. These Whales live in the ocean.
Although Whales are a well loved animal, they are at risk of many different threats from humans. For example, Japan resumed Whaling in December of last year. The good news is, is that Whaling is banned internationally, through the International Whaling ban. International Whaling was banned in 1986 through the International Whaling Commission which was agreed globally by countries. The ban on Whaling, however, it is only a moratorium - which means that there is a temporary ban on Whaling. There is, however, a permanent ban on Whaling products being sold.
Although the ban is temporary, there doesn't seem to be any global appetite for most countries to go back to Whaling. Sadly, there are exceptions; this includes Japan, Norway and Iceland.
Whaling is not the only human-led threats towards Whales, there are other threats. The other threats towards these animals are: climate change, and accidentally being caught in fishing nets. Whales can also become 'beached'. When Whales become beached, it means that they end up on the shore by themselves. Some of these Whales end up dying due to being out of the water, while others (the lucky ones), are saved by humans who manage to get them back out to sea. Beaching can happen for several reasons - including the Whales looking for food, but getting too close to the shore - when they end up to close to the shore, they can end up getting stranded.
Despite the capacity for these animals ending up stranded on the shore, they are in fact intelligent animals. Whales are known for their beautiful sounds and songs where they talk to one another. They are also social animals, and emotionally rich - Whales are known to experience a wide variety of emotions, similar to the emotions that we humans experience in our lives.
Here are two Whales dancing...
Happy World Whale Day!