86 points by andsoitis 3 days ago | 9 comments
grahar64 4 hours ago
There must have been so much unseen behavior when there were millions more whales in the ocean. Here's hoping that we can see more
sidewndr46 3 hours ago
Given the current trajectory of whale populations, 'we' probably won't be seeing that. Maybe in many generations of humans.
cortesoft 3 hours ago
Well, the population growth probably isn't linear, so maybe?
mulnz 3 hours ago
Warming will kill off most of the systems these animals depend on within 30 years.
ilt 2 hours ago
And will give way to many which thrive or evolve to thrive in hotter climates?
netcan 18 minutes ago
In human time scales, the species which thrive will tend to be the adaptive generalists. Evolution takes time.
ygjb 1 hour ago
It's gonna take a minute (on a geological timescale) for the ecosystems to be able to reliably sustain megafauna again.
gameman144 1 hour ago
Given that we support megafauna today, could you explain why? Legitimately asking, since I don't see a reason they couldn't adapt just as well.
gdupont 1 hour ago
Because evolution is slow and the climate change is going fast.
ilt 36 minutes ago
Evolution has been found to be happening 2-4 times faster than the rate earlier thought: https://news-archive.exeter.ac.uk/2022/may/articles/fuelofev...
timschmidt 1 hour ago
Evolution of small things like algae and the krill which feed on it and feed the whale is quite fast. Single celled organisms reproduce on the scale of 20 minutes and hold immense amounts of genetic diversity in their populations to facilitate the success of a better adapted line almost immediately. Additionally, they are adept at horizontal gene transfer from other well-adapted organisms.
kulahan 26 minutes ago
This would be great news if the whale literally only required krill to survive, but complex megafauna have complex needs, so the ability of krill and other small creatures to evolve is largely irrelevant in a discussion regarding the ability of megafauna to survive. This is especially true if you read TFA and see that the whales already adapt to eat different things as necessary.
timschmidt 9 minutes ago
Humpbacks have a highly specialized feeding mechanism. They really only prey on krill and small fish.

The food chain really is sun -> algae -> krill (and sometimes small fish) -> humpback whale

thrance 1 hour ago
Sure, in a few million years.
wahnfrieden 1 hour ago
It’s game over for a very long time
napierzaza 1 hour ago
[dead]
swframe2 5 hours ago
I hope we create whalegemma (similar to dolphingemma) so we can explain to them how to co-exist better with humans (e.g. avoid this area during their whale hunting season, travel to this area if you get sick or tangled in rope).
zyxin 3 hours ago
There is a group that is attempting to communicate with whales by training a transformer based model on whale sounds.

https://www.projectceti.org/

dmos62 1 hour ago
jibal 42 minutes ago
No it isn't and that clickbait article doesn't say it is.
AlecSchueler 1 hour ago
It's just a pity we couldn't figure out how to better coexist with whales.
tclancy 4 hours ago
It’s going to be prog rock, isn’t it?
parpfish 4 hours ago
no, i think they're just going to start a podcast.
tclancy 4 hours ago
Yes officer, this one right here.
1 hour ago
The_Blade 50 minutes ago
Migaloo is joining Humphrey the Whale's team in SF forming a super team
kunley 32 minutes ago
They are going to save us from that XXIII century probe, right
starkeeper 50 minutes ago
Hopefully they are building an army to conquer the planet.
dgb23 39 minutes ago
Or they pack up to leave.
astrocat 5 hours ago
holy units batman

> Bursting from their enormous lungs at over 300mph (483km/h), a humpback whale's blow can rise up to 7m (23ft) into the air.

Pick a lane BBC.

But this is great news. Also the fact that whales "transport huge amounts of nutrients across the globe" (linking to [1]) is fascinating. The role of whales in sucking up critters in one place and pooping them out elsewhere being a fundamental dynamic that drives global ocean ecosystems... just chefs kiss

[1] https://www.nature.com/research-intelligence/nri-topic-summa...)

AlecSchueler 39 minutes ago
It's not just the BBC, it's the UK as a whole. Miles per hour or deeply entrenched for speeds but for measurements we use meters. The same for weight, we weigh people in stone but we weigh everything else with grams.
tom_ 4 hours ago
I think the BBC policy is to provide every measurement in both types of unit.
gamerslexus 4 hours ago
Ordering is inconsistent.
CarVac 3 hours ago
They use MPH in the UK.
aaronbrethorst 3 hours ago
Their hours are pegged to the hogshead, and are about 3 seconds shorter than American hours.
The_Blade 47 minutes ago
The metric system is the tool of the Devil! My Tesla gets 40 rods to the hogshead and that's the way I likes it!
lostlogin 1 hour ago
The US use of units is worse than the UK.

Said from a proudly metric country, New Zealand, where everyone knows their weight in kilograms and height in feet and inches.

cyberax 1 hour ago
Apparently they also measurably affect the vertical water mixing. Fish need dissolved oxygen to breathe, so they don't normally venture past the thermocline. And their fins are also vertical, so they don't cause a lot of vertical water movement.

But whales routinely dive deep, and their tail fin is _horizontal_ and it creates powerful updrafts.

Another organism that affects mixing is apparently jellyfish.

4 hours ago
3 hours ago
dotspec 3 hours ago
It's the Entmoot of the sea.
bitwize 4 hours ago
Perhaps they're forming a delegation to decide what to answer to that thing coming from space? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_IV%3A_The_Voyage_Hom...
jaza 1 hour ago
Seriously though, we have Star Trek IV to thank in no small part for this amazing humpback comeback success story. Live long and prosper!
dhosek 4 hours ago
So long and thanks for all the fish, perhaps.
3 hours ago
oomuinio 5 hours ago
[flagged]