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Local politics, the county, and the world, as viewed by Tammy Maygra Tammy’s views are her own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bill Eagle, his wife, his pastor, Tammy’s neighbors, Brady Preheim, Marty Rowe, President Elon Musk, President Trump, Stephan Miller, Mike Johnson, J.D. Vance, Vlad Putin, Ted Cruz, Kamala Harris, Trump’s MAGA followers, or my neighbor’s dogs. This Tammy’s Take (with the exception of this disclaimer) is not paid for or written by, or even reviewed by anyone but Tammy and she refuses to be bullied by anyone. See Bill’s Standard Disclaimer
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Whales Are Dying
A distressingly high number of grey whales are dying in 2026 due to extreme malnutrition and starvation, with a record 18+ deaths reported in Washington State alone by early May, often linked to climate-driven food shortages in the Arctic. Scientists report that warming oceans have reduced the crustaceans gray whales depend on, forcing them to starve during their migration. Whales are appearing in unusual, shallow inland waters such as Puget Sound, suggesting a desperate search for food. The eastern North Pacific gray whale population has dropped from a peak of around 27,000 to approximately 13,000, representing more than a 50% decline. While natural factors play a role, human-driven climate change is reflected as the main culprit. Eastern North Pacific Gray whales undertake one of the longest annual mammal migrations on the planet, traveling more than 10,000 miles round-trip each year. During this journey, it’s usual for gray whales to eat less than they usually do. But the total number of whales dying, is cause for alarm. Gray whales know how to find food. The problem is that food is simply not plentiful enough anymore. Warming waters, a result of human-driven climate change melts Arctic ice. Less Arctic ice means less algae growing beneath it, which disrupts the entire food chain, including the crustaceans in the seabed that feed gray whales. This is a typical example of a failing food chain. The most substantial long-term threat is the industrial-scale removal of krill, which is the initial food source for baleen whales. Booming demand for krill, used in Omega-3 supplements for humans and feed for farmed salmon is stealing from whales the food they need to recover from 20th-century whaling. Trawlers use advanced sonar to find the densest krill swarms the same swarms that whales depend on. Research indicates that pregnancy rates among Antarctic humpback whales are falling sharply, likely due to a lack of available krill. The impact is devastating. When whales eat krill, they recycle nutrients back into the water through their waste, which fertilizes the phytoplankton that krill eat. Removing whales or their food source breaks this cycle, potentially leading to a total collapse of the Antarctic ecosystem. Conservation groups like Sea Shepherd and WWF are calling for stronger management and buffer zones around whale feeding grounds to prevent further deaths. Human harvesting of krill in the Southern Ocean could threaten the recovery of whale species that were nearly wiped out by industrial whaling in the 20th century Humans do not need krill supplements, stop buying them, the whales need krill to survive. An entire eco system depend on these ting creatures. Over the past 30 years, the krill catch has quadrupled to around 400,000 tons annually and is set to expand further. Basic math makes it pretty clear that the present krill biomass cannot support both a growing krill fishery and the recovery of whale populations to pre-whaling size. To save the whales we can regulate the areas and times of year when commercial krill boats can operate this will minimize competition with whales is a initial starting point. Improve devices to stop whale entanglement in nets. Better monitoring to bring in more data on krill egg and larvae good host sites could classify zones to ban or limit fishing. Furthermore, fishing vessels could harvest limited amounts of krill and target krill swarms to avoid harvesting those in the midst of critical spawning periods. Do we really want an earth without whales? NO. We should be stewards of the earth, instead we are greedy glutinous hogs and leave death and destruction where ever humans go. Instead of killing everything we touch why don’t we take preventative measures before there is a crisis? We do not own the earth we share the earth with fellow species and its past time to respect and conserve resources, we have the biggest brain of all species why don’t we use it.
Tammy
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