The tiny Caribbean island of Dominica is creating the world’s first marine sanctuary for one of the largest animals on Earth: sperm whale.
Almost 800 square kilometers The government announced this week that the sea on the western slope of this island country, which is an important feeding area for this species, will be designated as a reserve.
“These majestic and highly intelligent animals we are safe from harm “We will continue to keep our waters and climate healthy,” Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said in a statement.
It is estimated that Fewer than 500 sperm whales live in the waters around DominicaThey are part of a population that moved along the Lesser Antilles chain, moving south to Saint Vincent and north to Guadeloupe. Gero reported that unlike sperm whales in other parts of the world, those found in the Eastern Caribbean do not travel very far.
He noted that sperm whales are a matrilineal society, and that young males leave and change oceans at some point in their lives. As a result, he said, it is important to protect the species, especially if few cubs are born. “The death of a baby can mean the end of a family”He said in a statement to the AP:
Sperm whales can give birth to a single calf every five to seven years.
Sperm whales fall victim in waters off Dominica and elsewhere collisions with boats, entanglements in fishing gear, and impacts from agricultural runoffThis limits their survival.
More than half of the world’s sperm whales have disappeared
Before the whaling season begins, Two million sperm whales are estimated to swim in the world’s deep waters before being hunted in search of oil to light lamps and lubricate machinery. Only about 800,000 remain, Gero said, as a result of the abuse people have endured.
Dominica government announces reservation It will enable sustainable artisanal fishing and outline an international sea route To prevent further deaths of sperm whales, which have the world’s largest brain and can grow up to 15 meters long.
Once the reserve is established, the prime minister said his administration will appoint an official and observers to ensure the area is respected and whale tourism regulations are followed. Visitors can swim with sperm whales and watch them from the boat, but in limited numbers.
The measure was praised by scientists and environmentalists, including National Geographic resident explorer Enric Sala. “The government of Dominica has realized that sperm whales, which were probably here before humans, are also citizens of Dominica,” Sala said. “These whales will spend most of the year off the island. So they take care of some of their citizens in a way that few countries have done before.”
It is estimated that 35 families of sperm whales usually remain in Dominican waters. Gero said some of the specimens were probably over 60 years old and communicated using clicking sounds in a vocalization known as a coda.
“It’s like, ‘I’m Dominican, what about you?’” Gero said. “It’s like asking,” he said. “This is a symbolic sign.”
They help capture CO2 through their feces
When sperm whales dive to depths of up to 3,000 meters, they deactivate their non-vital functions and defecate near the surface. In conclusion, Nutrient-rich droppings remain on the ocean surface and cause plankton bloomsthose that capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and drag it to the ocean floor when they die. Therefore, scientists say that the reserve will not only protect animals but also help fight climate change.
And it is believedSperm whales in Dominica defecate more than whales elsewheresaid Shane Gero, whaling biologist and founder of the Dominica Sperm Whale Project, a research program focusing on sperm whales in the Eastern Caribbean. In this way, they produce more food in this region.
It’s unclear why sperm whales defecate more in Dominica. Gero said they ate twice as much food, or it might have been something special about the type of squid they ate.
In one way or another, This helps retain more CO2 from the atmosphere. “In some ways, sperm whales are fighting climate change on our behalf,” Gero said in an interview.
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