Whales: the ocean’s hidden climate warriors

Marine biologists have discovered that whales play a significant role in removing carbon from the atmosphere in recent years. 

This is because whales accumulate tons of carbon in their bodies during their lives — which average at 50 years — and when they die, their bodies sink to the bottom of the ocean, burying the carbon for centuries. 

In comparison to trees, which are rather better known for their role as carbon sponges, one whale takes out 33 tons of CO2, whereas over a 500-year lifespan, one tree takes out 12 tons. So if these beautiful creatures have such a significant impact, how come it is not more widely known?

Educate

At the beginning of July 2024, I was invited to go out to work for the Atlantic Whale and Dolphin Foundation, AWDF, who have been based in Tenerife for over 20 years. 

The organisation is part of the Fair Earth Foundation family and strives to raise awareness concerning the importance of marine conservation, with a focus on the Atlantic. 

The AWDF’s site states on its homepage that ‘it provides the opportunity for you to ‘do something’ and to ‘make a difference’, reflecting its commitment to creating change, inspiring action through running a volunteer programme throughout each year in order to conduct research. 

The organisation aims to recruit around 10-15 volunteers to be out in the Tenerfie base at any one time, through advertising in UK colleges up and down the country, as well as word of mouth. It is a low cost volunteer programme — aiming to enable an environmental education accessible to everyone. 

Volunteers act as ‘research guides’ on the whale watching boats. Me and my fellow volunteers were often asked by tourists on the boats about the marine life we could see and what work the organisation was doing, giving us a brilliant opportunity to educate and offer insight into the project. 

Pilot

My time in Tenerife taught me about the importance of protecting marine life, giving me a new and personal perspective. By being given the opportunity to work on the boats, helping out crew on tourist boats, and noting and photographing whale patterns, I was able to see the pilot whales first hand, as well as bottlenose dolphins and turtles! 

Seeing how they communicate and migrate as a family is truly incredible and really makes it clear the importance of protecting these creatures. Whilst working out on the tourist boats, we were in charge of recording encounters we observed in the wildlife. 

Families of short finned pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins, which are residents of Tenerife, are a main focus for the AWDF, who work to identify the members of each family, to help build a more accurate understanding of their interactions. 

Whilst out on the boats, we also spotted an atlantic green turtle, as well as seabirds — yellow-legged gulls and cory’s shearwater. Everyday that I was on the boats I saw pods of at least three short finned pilot whales, and even smaller baby pilot whales.