A new study says that the climate crisis is to blame for whale entanglements with fishing lines off the California coast in 2015 and 2016. (Photo: pxhere/cc)
Climate Crisis to Blame for Whales Injured and Killed After Being Caught in Fishing Lines: Study
"A perfect set of events to cause entanglements."
A new study claims that the climate crisis was to blame for whales getting stuck in crab fishing lines in 2015 and 2016 off the California coast, resulting in death or injury to the marine mammals in at least 50 instances.
The report, "Habitat compression and ecosystem shifts as potential links between marine heatwave and record whale entanglements," was published in the science journal Nature Communications on January 27.
"Increasing climate variability means increased uncertainty," study lead author Jarrod Santora told the Guardian.
Santora, a University of California Santa Cruz ecologist, told the paper that the marine heatwave nicknamed the "blob" that warmed waters off the California coast pushed the whales closer to the shoreline and into the nets. The blob heatwave laster from 2013 to 2016.
As the Guardian reported:
The upwelling in 2015 and 2016 shrunk to just a narrow band along the coast, causing organisms to cluster there. Due to a heatwave-related decline in krill, whales switched to feeding on anchovies in shallower and shallower waters. In addition, the crab fishing season--an $88m industry on the US west coast--had been delayed from November to April, and came to coincide with the whales' presence.
"There were thousands of whales and thousands of crab pots going out, so [this] was a perfect set of events to cause entanglements," said Santora.
The increase in whales off the coast is also the result of "successful management and acts put in place in the 1960s and 1970s like the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act," said Santora.
"The grey whales are the highest they've ever been," Santora said, "and humpback whales have remarkably rebounded."
The study's authors argue that with that rise in populations in mind and the climate crisis continuing to warm the oceans, whales should be protected. And the protection need not come at the cost of California's fishing industry.
"Cooperation of fishers, resource managers, and scientists could mitigate future entanglement risk by developing climate-ready fisheries approaches, while supporting thriving fishing communities," reads the study.
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. In a few short weeks, US voters will have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. Our Fall Campaign is underway, and we need your help. To power our newsroom through the rest of the year, we need to raise $125,000 by midnight on October 31. So if you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
A new study claims that the climate crisis was to blame for whales getting stuck in crab fishing lines in 2015 and 2016 off the California coast, resulting in death or injury to the marine mammals in at least 50 instances.
The report, "Habitat compression and ecosystem shifts as potential links between marine heatwave and record whale entanglements," was published in the science journal Nature Communications on January 27.
"Increasing climate variability means increased uncertainty," study lead author Jarrod Santora told the Guardian.
Santora, a University of California Santa Cruz ecologist, told the paper that the marine heatwave nicknamed the "blob" that warmed waters off the California coast pushed the whales closer to the shoreline and into the nets. The blob heatwave laster from 2013 to 2016.
As the Guardian reported:
The upwelling in 2015 and 2016 shrunk to just a narrow band along the coast, causing organisms to cluster there. Due to a heatwave-related decline in krill, whales switched to feeding on anchovies in shallower and shallower waters. In addition, the crab fishing season--an $88m industry on the US west coast--had been delayed from November to April, and came to coincide with the whales' presence.
"There were thousands of whales and thousands of crab pots going out, so [this] was a perfect set of events to cause entanglements," said Santora.
The increase in whales off the coast is also the result of "successful management and acts put in place in the 1960s and 1970s like the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act," said Santora.
"The grey whales are the highest they've ever been," Santora said, "and humpback whales have remarkably rebounded."
The study's authors argue that with that rise in populations in mind and the climate crisis continuing to warm the oceans, whales should be protected. And the protection need not come at the cost of California's fishing industry.
"Cooperation of fishers, resource managers, and scientists could mitigate future entanglement risk by developing climate-ready fisheries approaches, while supporting thriving fishing communities," reads the study.
A new study claims that the climate crisis was to blame for whales getting stuck in crab fishing lines in 2015 and 2016 off the California coast, resulting in death or injury to the marine mammals in at least 50 instances.
The report, "Habitat compression and ecosystem shifts as potential links between marine heatwave and record whale entanglements," was published in the science journal Nature Communications on January 27.
"Increasing climate variability means increased uncertainty," study lead author Jarrod Santora told the Guardian.
Santora, a University of California Santa Cruz ecologist, told the paper that the marine heatwave nicknamed the "blob" that warmed waters off the California coast pushed the whales closer to the shoreline and into the nets. The blob heatwave laster from 2013 to 2016.
As the Guardian reported:
The upwelling in 2015 and 2016 shrunk to just a narrow band along the coast, causing organisms to cluster there. Due to a heatwave-related decline in krill, whales switched to feeding on anchovies in shallower and shallower waters. In addition, the crab fishing season--an $88m industry on the US west coast--had been delayed from November to April, and came to coincide with the whales' presence.
"There were thousands of whales and thousands of crab pots going out, so [this] was a perfect set of events to cause entanglements," said Santora.
The increase in whales off the coast is also the result of "successful management and acts put in place in the 1960s and 1970s like the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act," said Santora.
"The grey whales are the highest they've ever been," Santora said, "and humpback whales have remarkably rebounded."
The study's authors argue that with that rise in populations in mind and the climate crisis continuing to warm the oceans, whales should be protected. And the protection need not come at the cost of California's fishing industry.
"Cooperation of fishers, resource managers, and scientists could mitigate future entanglement risk by developing climate-ready fisheries approaches, while supporting thriving fishing communities," reads the study.