This is a sad thing.
Moreover, humans' impact on blue whales goes far beyond this.
In addition to direct harm to blue whales by humans through whaling ships, a large number of blue whales have collided with ships or become entangled in fishing equipment.
Although most of these are not fatal to blue whales, they can injure them.
Coupled with the increasing number of human activities in the ocean, the increasing noise in the ocean makes it difficult for blue whales to communicate with each other, which may also lead to the death of blue whales.
At the beginning of the 20th century, blue whales were found in significant numbers in almost every ocean in the world.
In the mid-twentieth century, whalers' frenzied hunting almost wiped out blue whales.
It was not until humans began to consciously protect blue whales in 1966 that the number of blue whales gradually increased.
In 2002, a research report estimated that the number of blue whales in the world was around 5,000.
Xiang Yang knew that there was nothing that could be done about it.
The blue whale is one of the most important economic species in the entire ocean. It has a lot of fat. In the last century, every blue whale caught meant the birth of a rich man or the enrichment of a rich man.
Due to the ban on whaling in recent years, the number of blue whales in the world has remained basically unchanged, at around 5,000.
Since the creation of the Red List of Threatened Species, the blue whale has been listed as an endangered species on the Red List.
Currently, the blue whale population in the northeastern Pacific is the largest of all blue whale populations, consisting of approximately two thousand individuals, which are concentrated between Alaska and Costa Rica, but are commonly seen in California in the summer.
This blue whale population in the Pacific Ocean is the hope for the long-term recovery of blue whale numbers. It is protected by many countries in the world and all hunting is prohibited.
However, sometimes this blue whale population will drift to the northwest Pacific Ocean. It has been recorded to appear between the Kamchatka Peninsula and the northern tip of Japan. Therefore, it is very difficult to protect this blue whale population, and it may still be hunted by humans today.
The Southern Ocean blue whale population numbers around one thousand individuals.
Humans do not yet have a good understanding of the migration patterns of this population of blue whales in the Southern Ocean.
In Chile, locals often spot blue whales gathering along the coast of Chiloé Island to feed, so the Chilean Whale Conservation Center, with the support of the Chilean Navy, conducts extensive research and protection on them.
In addition, there are two populations of blue whales living in the North Atlantic.
The first one is located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is estimated to be around 500.
The second is further east, appearing in the Azores in the spring and in Iceland in the summer, where it is speculated that the whales move between the two volcanic islands along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
"Captain, why don't we leave here as soon as possible?" Fang Youqun suddenly said at this time.
Xiang Yang raised his eyebrows, "Why, don't you want to see more blue whales? There are not many blue whales in the world nowadays. If you miss this one, you don't know when you will see a blue whale again."
Fang Youqun curled his lips and said, "We can't catch it. What's so good about just looking at it? Besides, this blue whale roars from time to time, and the key is that I can't hear it. When I think of this, I feel creepy."
Xiang Yang smiled. It turned out that Fang Youqun was afraid of the cry of the blue whale.
Thinking of this, Xiang Yang's face suddenly became serious. To be honest, if this blue whale really kept screaming, it might not be a good thing for people to be exposed to such violent infrasound for a long time.
Thinking of this, Xiang Yang immediately ordered the ship to start sailing in the opposite direction of the blue whale.
As a result, the blue whale also chased over here, and seemed to be swimming at full speed.
Xiang Yang felt strange and stared at the blue whale behind him with a frown.
Logically speaking, blue whales should not attack human ships.
Moreover, the fleet that Xiang Yang is currently in is not a simple fleet. Every fishing boat in it is larger than the blue whale.
Even if blue whales want to attack human ships, they shouldn't choose such large ships, right
There is no reason for this.
After staring at the blue whale for dozens of seconds, Xiang Yang discovered that there were actually several waves behind the blue whale.
Xiang Yang took a closer look and immediately gasped. It turned out that under the water, a group of tiger sharks were chasing the blue whale.
There are about seven or eight killer whales in this group. It is not considered a large group among killer whales, but in the ocean, they are definitely a group of unscrupulous creatures.
No wonder this blue whale would spray water continuously on the sea surface to breathe and then swim quickly. No wonder it would make whale calls. It turns out that it had encountered a natural enemy.
Xiang Yang looked at the blue whale carefully and found that there were no injuries on its body. It seemed that the group of killer whales had not caught up with it yet.
In fact, Xiang Yang knew that as long as the blue whale noticed the killer whale, it would be basically impossible to kill the blue whale.
According to statistics, more than half of the blue whales in the world have been attacked by killer whales.
But less than 25 percent of blue whales show signs of being attacked by killer whales.
This means that most of the time, even if killer whales attack blue whales, they cannot even leave injuries on the blue whales.
Most of the time, killer whales can only kill blue whales by attacking them while they are feeding.
However, this is not absolute. If there are enough killer whales, there is a chance that they can kill a blue whale.
Just in March of this year, something happened in the ocean that many ocean lovers around the world talked about with great interest.
On March 18 this year, the British Daily Mail reported that on the west coast of Australia, an adult blue whale mistakenly entered the breeding grounds of killer whales and was hunted by 75 killer whales. In the end, the blue whale was eaten by the killer whales.
Xiang Yang had seen this news. When Xiang Yang first saw this report, he was still marveling at the strong fighting power of killer whales. The blue whale, as the largest animal on the planet, was actually killed head-on by a group of killer whales with such a huge size difference.
In Xiang Yang's impression, it is not normal for killer whales to kill blue whales. When killer whales and blue whales meet, it is normal for both sides to suffer losses.
Although killer whales are the largest existing dolphins and the most ferocious toothed whales, their ecological niche in the ocean is similar to that of lions on the African savannah. Not only are they huge in size, with adult killer whales having an average body length of about 6 meters and an average weight of about 5 tons, they also have very sharp conical teeth in their big mouths, which is standard for top predators in the ocean.
But the blue whale's body is there after all, and its terrifying power can seriously injure the killer whale with just a slight collision.
Thinking of this, Xiang Yang suddenly felt that killer whales were really very similar to lions on the grassland. Blue whales, like lions, were also typical social animals. Even the smallest group of killer whales consisted of at least five members. This was really similar to the habits of lions.