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English
Whales are the largest known mammals on the planet earth. These gigantic creatures roam both the deep and narrow seas in search of convenient regions to reproduce and feed. The grey whale is one of the species of these huge mammals. However, these beautiful and majestic creatures are facing extinction in view of the changing climate known as global warming. One of the sources used in the collection of information concerning the grey whales is a short film on You Tube known as, “Grey whale migration” derived from the National Geographic channel. This movie narrates of how various animals including grey whales travel for many miles every spring to turbulent waters in America’s west coasts, to feed on the tiny sea creatures attracted to the surface by the warm air. Another source is the documentary by Jean-Michel Cousteau known as, “Ocean Adventures -Gray Whale.” This documentary narrates of the life cycle of the grey whale whereby the whales breed in the northern coast of Mexico and later on migrate northwards to the arctic gulf to feed.
The later documentary details a vivid description of the animal’s lifecycle from where they are born to their feeding grounds. This documentary continues to highlight on how global warming has negatively influenced the survival of the grey whales. The first documentary, on the other hand, is vague as it has limited information. This documentary however, narrates on one of the Grey Whales’ threat, the killer whale. There is an instance where the documentary details of a killer whale attack where the mother manages to save its young calf.
In the lagoons of Baha, Mexico, an entire species of grey whales meet to mate and bring forth new born. The tranquil lagoons offer ideal conditions for these mammals to reproduce. They later travel thousands of miles bearing north along the coast of Alaska and continue north passing the Bering straight to Point Barrow and into Alaska. The whales feed only during the winter season an ancient seasoned cycle where they replenish themselves. During winter, the grey whale’s feeding ground is riddled with their diet that includes amphibious, krill, lope-pods, plankton and mollusks.
Grey whales are also known to feed on squid and some fish from the ocean floor. Adult grey whales are known to have a gigantic appetite consuming up to three hundred kilograms of food on a single day. This is equivalent to six hundred and sixty pounds. Grey whales are known to be carnivorous and a secondary consumer. Their feeding techniques include scrapping their mouth along the ocean flour. In this process, the creatures get to pick up numerous creatures lying on the ocean floor with their mouth.
These whales then utilize their baleen teeth in filtering through the nourishing organic food after which the food is swallowed. The calves travel with their mother across the seas and derive their dietary requirements from their mother’s fatty nutritious milk. The calves are known to consume from twenty-two to thirty-six kilograms in a single day. The mother and calf bond is known to last for a year.
However, global warming is now putting these creatures on the brink of extinction. Global warming refers to the rise in average temperatures resulting from factors such as ozone depletion from green house gases. Research indicates that global warming has resulted in the loss of close to thirty percent of the BerringSea in the last three decades. Since these lands are the only known feeding grounds for these creatures, most of them have since died due to lack of food. Warmer temperatures mean less food for the animals and close to a third of their population died between the years of 1999 and 2000 because of starvation.
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