Odontocetophiles of the world, rejoice! The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals has released a new poster, this one featuring 72 odontocetes – whales with teeth. These toothy whales all share something in common too. They’re in trouble.
No, they didn’t do anything wrong. It’s we humans who are at fault, actually. According to the group’s newest report, toothed whales are still being killed by fishing nets in large numbers. They’re having to look for alternative sources of food as well, because human beings have hauled so many of their prey species of fish out of the oceans.
Pollution is also to blame for some of the decline of the toothed whales, and is behind the saddest story on the poster: The whale that no longer exists. The first whale shown on the poster, the Yangtse river dolphin, Lipotes vexillifer, has not been found at all on the last several expeditions to count its numbers. It is probable that this species of whale has gone extinct.
That’s sad, but there are still many species of toothed whale left to celebrate, ranging all the way from the adorable little Dall’s porpoises, through the weird Stejneger‘s beaked whale, up to the macrocephalusest, the sperm whale. Enjoy the poster, download it, and share with the people you know who need to be reminded that there are remarkable animals underneath the waves that are worth saving.
