The urgency of acting to protect the thousands of communities of whales across the globe has an undeniable importance.
Marine biologists have discovered that whales play a significant role in removing carbon from the atmosphere in recent years.
This is because whales accumulate tons of carbon in their bodies during their lives - which average at 50 years - and when they die, their bodies sink to the bottom of the ocean, burying the carbon for centuries.
In comparison to trees, which are rather better known for their role as carbon sponges, one whale takes out 33 tons of CO2, whereas over a 500-year lifespan, one tree takes out 12 tons. So if these beautiful creatures have such a significant impact, how come it is not more widely known?
Educate
At the beginning of July 2024, I was invited to go out to work for the Atlantic Whale and Dolphin Foundation, AWDF, who have been based in Tenerife for over 20 years.
The organisation is part of the Fair Earth Foundation family and strives to raise awareness concerning the importance of marine conservation, with a focus on the Atlantic.
The AWDF’s site states on its homepage that ‘it provides the opportunity for you to ‘do something’ and to ‘make a difference’, reflecting its commitment to creating change, inspiring action through running a volunteer programme throughout each year in order to conduct research.
The organisation aims to recruit around 10-15 volunteers to be out in the Tenerfie base at any one time, through advertising in UK colleges up and down the country, as well as word of mouth. It is a low cost volunteer programme - aiming to enable an environmental education accessible to everyone.
Volunteers act as ‘research guides’ on the whale watching boats. Me and my fellow volunteers were often asked by tourists on the boats about the marine life we could see and what work the organisation was doing, giving us a brilliant opportunity to educate and offer insight into the project.
Pilot
My time in Tenerife taught me about the importance of protecting marine life, giving me a new and personal perspective. By being given the opportunity to work on the boats, helping out crew on tourist boats, and noting and photographing whale patterns, I was able to see the pilot whales first hand, as well as bottlenose dolphins and turtles!
Seeing how they communicate and migrate as a family is truly incredible and really makes it clear the importance of protecting these creatures. Whilst working out on the tourist boats, we were in charge of recording encounters we observed in the wildlife.
Families of short finned pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins, which are residents of Tenerife, are a main focus for the AWDF, who work to identify the members of each family, to help build a more accurate understanding of their interactions.
Whilst out on the boats, we also spotted an atlantic green turtle, as well as seabirds - yellow-legged gulls and cory’s shearwater. Everyday that I was on the boats I saw pods of at least three short finned pilot whales, and even smaller baby pilot whales.
The urgency of acting to protect the thousands of communities of whales across the globe has an undeniable importance.
Extinction
The data recording was structured in order to track the movements of the families of whales and dolphins. Using cameras we identified the families using fin shots, close up pictures of fins which are unique to the animal, often having features such a shape or scars which allow us to differentiate the whales and dolphins.
Then we would record GPS coordinates, general group formation and behaviours, as well as specific behaviours of individuals such as spy-hopping and breaching.
By observing directly from the boats, the AWDF looks to also address the effects of human activities on marine mammals, through further observation of surrounding boat activity and ocean pollution, working day to day out in the ocean, striving to protect this critical marine habitat.
The urgency of acting to protect the thousands of communities of whales across the globe has an undeniable importance which many are not aware of.
Across the Atlantic Ocean, whales are on the verge of extinction, a fact many may not be aware of, especially where I live in West Sussex, where a whale sighting is rare.
Endearing
A whale straying into the English Channel can be tragic, facing risks of accidental strandings and dehydration, due to the relatively shallow levels of the Channel.
Furthermore the increasing mass of plastic pollution has a devastating impact across the globe, poisoning our oceans with toxic chemicals, slowly infecting its inhabitants.
While problems with plastic are no new enemy, learning and understanding that the other inhabitants of our home are to be affected by climate change is important, and raises the profile of these issues.
When discussing how to tackle climate change, most people, rightly, think about turning to renewable energy and sustainable production, and whilst these are highly important, what can get overlooked is the power in nature itself.
Because it’s not just about what we do for our environment, but what it can do for us. Whales put an endearing face on the climate crisis, giving it a reality that we should want to help.
This Author
Ella Clark is a student at The College of Richard Collyer in Sussex. She is soon to study history at the University of Exeter with a view to a career in journalism. She is particularly concerned with conservation and the protection of marine life, and has been involved in the Atlantic Whale and Dolphin Foundation.
The College of Richard Collyer is a sixth-form college in West Sussex whose English department has run a competition through the 2024-25 academic year in partnership with The Ecologist online, open to all upper-sixth students, to develop their journalistic skills by exploring environmental interests and concerns.
