Hardly any other group of animals has influenced global politics as much as whales - until today. Together with dolphins and porpoises, the giants of the oceans belong to the order of cetaceans (Cetacea). The term "cetacea" is a combination of the Greek ketos for "sea monster" and the Latin cetus for "large marine animal".
From the smallest dolphin to the largest animal on earth, the blue whale - a total of 91 whale species inhabit the world's oceans. Only recently, a new species has been discovered that is still waiting to be described. Each whale species emits specific fountains of spray - the blow - into the air when it exhales. Whalers and trained whale watchers can distinguish the species by their characteristic blow.
Whether cold or warm, deep or shallow - whales became native to all the world's oceans. They became the mammals most adapted to aquatic life, even giving birth to their young underwater. There is only one thing they still can't do: breathe underwater.
Despite the moratorium (ban on fishing) on all large whale species since 1986, the populations of many whale species are still under threat. For various reasons: Plastic, chemicals and noise pollute the oceans, habitats are changing, whales are run over by ships, suffocate as bycatch in fishing nets or become entangled in ghost nets. The climate crisis is also affecting them.
The WWF is active in numerous whale protection and research projects worldwide and has already achieved a great deal for whale protection, including the designation of protected areas in the Baltic Sea and the north-east Atlantic.
The WWF wants to protect whales and dolphins and ARKU is supporting them in this.
Find out more: https://www.wwf.org.uk/
Image: ©Richard Barrett / WWF-UK