Whales

Whales are the largest living creatures on the planet. In fact, blue and fin whales are the two largest animals that have ever existed.

But this massive stature is not their only superpower: whales play an important role when it comes to climate change mitigation.

Scientists have discovered in recent years that great whales (baleen whales and sperm whales),
can capture significant amounts of planet-heating carbon from the atmosphere.

Scientists have estimated that one whale’s ability to capture carbon from the atmosphere is equal to that of thousands of trees.

This is critical as climate change is an existential crisis impacting our planet in startling ways from sea to shore.

Whales also have some of the longest migrations of any mammal on Earth. Along these oceanic journeys,
or "blue corridors," whales fertilize the marine ecosystems they move through and support the marine life inhabiting them.

So, could protecting whales be a potential nature-based solution and harbinger of hope not just for ocean ecosystems, but also in the climate fight?

Superpower: Carbon absorption

Throughout their long lives, whales accumulate carbon from the atmosphere in their bodies.

Given that some species of whales can live well over 100 years, they have the potential to capture quite a lot of carbon.

When they die, they sink to the ocean floor. And as they settle there, so does the carbon that was stored in their bodies.

While for most land animals, carbon is released into the atmosphere after death, at the depths of the ocean floor,
it can remain for centuries in a phenomenon known as “blue carbon.”

For large marine creatures like whales, it can take up to 1,000 years for the elements from their carcasses to cycle their way back up to the surface.³

Source: World Wild Life