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Forbes Lifestyle Travel Dominica’s New Whale Reserve And The Whale Poop That Combats Climate Change Johanna Read Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I cover travel and responsible tourism. Following Click to save this article. You'll be asked to sign into your Forbes account. Nov 15, 2023, 06:28pm EST Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), Caribbean Sea, Dominica. getty Smart! This newly announced reserve for the animals with the largest brains on the planet and with ... let’s call it their exceptional digestion practices ... should be beneficial to not just the whales but to whale watchers and for combatting climate change too. World’s first sperm whale reserve The government of Dominica announced November 13, 2023, that it is establishing the world’s first sperm whale reserve. The new 300-square-mile reserve will be off the western side of Dominica in its Caribbean (as opposed to Atlantic) waters. Sperm whale mother and calf, Dominica. Reinhard Dirscherl ullstein bild via Getty Images While protecting endangered and vulnerable species is laudable in and of itself, the nation of Dominica hopes to benefit in other ways too. Sightings of animals are more likely in areas where the creatures feel safe, so the new reserve should help boost Dominica’s tourism economy. Enhanced regulations, such as those banning commercial fishing and large ships in the reserve, will help ensure that sustainable fishing and whale watching trips have minimal effects on the sperm whales and on the other whales and dolphins that frequent the island’s waters. And thanks to Dominica’s sperm whales’ remarkable pooping capacity, the new reserve should also enhance Dominica’s contributions to combatting climate change. Dominica’s sperm whales Sperm whale off the coast of Roseau, Dominica. getty MORE FOR YOU Apple Makes Surprise Free Offer To All iPhone 14 Users Carnival Cruise Surveillance Video Confirms Missing Passenger Jumped Overboard Very Important Sudden BlackRock Breakthrough Predicted To Trigger Huge 25 Trillion Bitcoin Ethereum XRP And Crypto Price Earthquake About 500 sperm whales live in the Eastern Caribbean, with more than 200 swimming in Dominica’s waters year round. Sperm whales are classified as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The animals are bigger than buses, about 49 to 59 feet long, and they’re easy to identify due to their massive heads with large rounded foreheads. Those heads hold the largest brains of any animal ever known to have lived on the planet. The whales dive extremely deep—as deep as 3,280 feet which requires them to hold their breath for 90 minutes—to find their preferred prey of squid. The population of sperm whales that favors Dominica has been declining about three percent per year, according to The Dominica Sperm Whale Project . There are concerns that, without intervention, the population could be all but gone within a decade. The threats—and solutions— are human-generated. The program’s founder, Canadian whale biologist Dr. Shane Gero, said in a statement, “These ‘island whales’ live alongside humans, preferring this island over others, making our actions in their ocean home their biggest threat.” Protecting Dominica’s sperm whales should help protect the entire planet too, thanks to the whales’ champion pooping capabilities. Whale poop to the rescue The feces of Dominica’s sperm whales play an important role in mitigating the effects of global warming. A snorkeler photographs sperm whales off Dominica, behind him is a cloud of sperm whale excrement. ...
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