“Whale populations in the Southern Ocean have rebounded to the point that researchers now regularly report spotting pods numbering in the hundreds,” notes The Doomslayer.
The Guardian reports that
In Antarctica, one of our planet’s last great wildernesses, a remarkable comeback is taking place.
In the very same waters of the Southern Ocean where whalers slaughtered more than 2 million whales during the 20th century, pushing a number of species to the brink of extinction, populations are recovering. Humpback whales have been the fastest to bounce back since commercial whaling was banned in 1986, and populations are nearly at pre-whaling levels. Blue whales, the world’s largest animal, have been slower.
Last week, I spoke to two independent researchers undertaking a scientific survey near the South Orkney islands. They recorded seeing multiple groups of more than 100 whales, in ‘remarkable and breathtaking scenes’ reminiscent of those described by the first polar explorers….
Dr Matt Savoca, of Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station, says the waters around the South Orkney islands “might have the highest density of whales anywhere on the planet”.
“It is incredible that every day at the South Orkneys with decent weather, we could more or less guarantee seeing a group of 100-plus whales,” Savoca adds. “The fact that groups this size are common here is what’s most remarkable. It’s breathtaking to see blows stretch from horizon to horizon, just as the first explorers to the region described over a century ago”.
Scientists are using artificial intelligence to save whales. Blue whales have returned to parts of the Indian Ocean, thanks to the end of Communism, which wiped out countless whales. Communist Russia slaughtered much of the world’s whales, at least 180,000 of them. It killed far more indiscriminately than other whaling nations, and unlike them, it largely wasted the whales it killed, leaving their carcasses to rot. It has been called the most senseless environmental crime of the 20th Century.
Artificial intelligence is being used to identify the trillions of viruses that live inside human beings, some of which may be beneficial. Viruses can be useful. A virus is being used to cure deafness in new gene therapy. Researchers also discovered that a plant virus could be used to save crops from root-eating pests.
