Blue Whales make a grand comeback

The giant blue whales population has made a grand rebounce. The recent findings of the Marine Mammal Science journal suggest that the recent whale population of California blue whales has once again reached 97% of their historic numbers. The scientists expressed great enthusiasm as the creatures recovered from the aftermath of whaling.
Blue whales which are 33m in length and weigh upto 190 tonnes are the largest mammals living on earth. Their numbers which have now reached 2200 along the eastern coast of Pacific Ocean are now seen to be abundant.
The hunting efforts of the whaling countries have slaughtered 3,46,000 of the animals ever since the hunting ban. The hunting was largely carried out by Russian hunter fleets.
The scientists believe that the current numbers have stalled the rise further and have slowed it down considerably. This basically depends on the support capacity of the oceans as the scientists believe that the current state is the maximum of what the ocean can support.
The rise in numbers has also given way to another concern of whales hitting the ships. The ship strikes can be a great drawback for the both the shipping industry and the whales. The 11-fold increase in ships as per new estimates has worried the scientists. Another mounting concern is the rapid change in climate which makes the activity of maintenance of the industry difficult to predict.

Month: Current Affairs - September, 2014