Scientists have seen “an unprecedented group” of blue whales off the coast of South Georgia. The giant whale is threatened with extinction.
The 55 specimens were spotted in the coastal waters about a thousand kilometers from Antarctica. Especially in that area, the whale was massively hunted at the beginning of the 20th century, until a commercial ban was introduced in 1966. At the low point, only a few hundred specimens were still alive.
Largest animal on earth
The blue whale is the largest animal that lives on the earth. The mammal is on average 25 meters long and sometimes weighs 100 tonnes. Marine biologist Mardik Leopold of Wageningen University calls the number of 55 that has now been seen together “superspectacular, but not exceptional”.
According to Leopold, we have to temper optimism. “In total, more than two thousand blue whales swim in the southern ocean,” he said News & Co on NPO Radio 1. “So it is possible that there may be 55 times on a lump together if it is particularly good for the animals. If you expect to see that things are going better, that is on the spot where it used to go well with the blue whale. “
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