A thread about #whales🐳 in the latest @IPCC_CH report on climate.
1) We are already seeing, with a high level of confidence, reproductive failures and declining abundances due to warmer polar oceans and reduced sea ice.
1) We are already seeing, with a high level of confidence, reproductive failures and declining abundances due to warmer polar oceans and reduced sea ice.
2) North Atlantic Right and Gray whales are the two most vulnerable marine mammal species, both of whom are already critically endangered. #NARW
3) The extinction of the these #whale species (and reduction in others) will disproportionately eliminate unique and important evolutionary lineages as well as functional diversity, with consequent impacts THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE MARINE ECOSYSTEM.
4) Under 2 scenarios in the Southern Ocean, the habitat of Antarctic #krill, a key prey species for #whales (and penguins, seals and others), is projected to contract and move southwards, reducing baleen #whale populations.
5) #Whales can suffer from unintended consequences of increased #ecotourism, but impacts can be minimised by implementing evidence-based management of associated activities.
6) Some traditional hunting communities are reporting that #whales now arrive at a time of year when launching boats is impaired by rough weather and poor sea conditions, which will only increase in the coming decades.
7) Others hunting communities have new access to smaller #cetaceans following range shifts, meaning these populations of #beluga have a new threat to contend with.
8) #ClimateChange has altered foraging behaviour and distribution of North Atlantic right whales and their target copepod prey, increasing entanglements in lobster and snow crab fishing gear. Pacific coast entanglements have INCREASED 20 FOLD 😢
10) In the Pacific, from the Baja Peninsula to the Bering Sea, there is evidence of widespread shifts in coastal biota and multi-trophic level starvation #whales (and other species) from combined metabolic demand and reduced prey quality across multiple regions.
In summary: #Whales are suffering innumerable impacts due to #ClimateChange with many we are yet to discover/understand. Yet, we know they are also essential for maintaining a resilient #ocean with much other life (including us!) dependent on them. We must #SaveTheWhale!
@whalesorg @whales_org @WDC_Deutschland @WDC_CEO @ErichHoyt @VanesaTossen @Sandboy39 @nicola_hodgins @Pindelinde @WdcsVanessa @marnaolsen @Dolphinchaz @emma701 @katienicoledyke
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