Endangered Right Whales are Being Killed by Toxic Algae

Scientists may have found what's killing off young right whales. It turns out that there's a close relationship between a sudden surge in whale deaths at Peninsula Valdes, Argentina, and the toxic algae Pseudo-nitzschia.

Peninsula Valdes is an important calving ground for southern right whales. Located on the coast of Argentina, the area is huge for baby whales in particular. However, the average number of whale deaths in the area per year jumped more than 10-fold, from fewer than six per year before 2005 to 65 per year from 2005 to 2014.

Even more striking is that 90 percent of the deaths from 2005 to 2014 were very young calves that were fewer than three months old. In fact, the "killer" seemed to be targeting the nearly newborn, sometimes more than 100 calves each year.

The researchers found that the number of whale deaths actually closely track the concentrations of the toxic algae Pseudo-nitzschia. The higher the density of the algae, the more young whales died. When the density of algae dropped, so did the number of deaths.

"The numbers hinge at the same point and have the same pattern," said Cara Wilson, one of the researchers, in a news release. "What's unusual about this is how long these bloom events continued to reoccur. You don't usually have deaths every years but the calves died in high numbers every year from 2007 to 2013."

The findings show how some of the largest animals in the ocean can be vulnerable to algal blooms that are projected to increase with climate change. This is particularly important to note for conservation efforts in the future.

The findings are published in the journal Marine Mammal Science.

Related Stories

Loss of Large Mammals Could Change Entire Ecosystems

Bats Avoid Obstacles with Echolocation with One, Simple Technique

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).