A new analysis finds that each great whale in the ocean is worth $2 million. Not only because they are the source of tourism revenue, but because they are an important part of enabling the ocean to produce more food and store more carbon.
As they swim around the ocean eating food--and then relieving themselves--they move nutrients.
When they die, they take those nutrients and all the carbon they’ve amassed over a lifetime to the bottom of the ocean.
Blue whales are the largest of all the whales, growing up to 100 feet long and weighing close to 200 tons.
Living Lab Radio spoke to Asha de Vos, the Founding Executive Director of Oceanswell, about her work studying a unique population of blue whales – the blue whales of Sri Lanka.
De Vos is also an Ocean Conservation Fellow at the New England Aquarium.
