Finally some good news about nature. The humpback whale is recovering after the whale species was nearly extinct. More than 30,000 are estimated to swim along Australia’s east coast this year. In the meantime, they also contribute to the fight against climate change.
Marine ecologist Rob Harcourt likes to call whales the superheroes of the ocean. He dedicates his life to submarines and spends as much time on the water as possible. Even today, the scientist is on a boat just off the coast of Sydney. “Whales absorb about 1 percent of all CO2 worldwide,” he says.
They do this in two ways, Harcourt explains. Whale excrement accelerates the growth of the aquatic plants phytoplankton. Plankton generates oxygen and absorbs carbon. In addition, whales store enormous amounts of CO2 in their bodies. When they die, they take the carbon to the bottom of the ocean.
Meanwhile, the professor scans the surface of the water. This time of year chances are good to see humpback whales. Every year the animals of Antarctica swim to the warmer waters in Australia, where they reproduce. In October, the animals travel back to colder areas. “Yes! There you have a mother and a calf.”
It remains fantastic to see the animals swim by in large numbers, says Harcourt. “When I was a teenager, in the 1960s, it was front page news when a whale was seen here. There were only a few hundred humpback whales left. The rest had been killed in the whaling.”
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