Whaling isn't the only danger..

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Climate Change Threatens Blue Whales' Food Supply

Reuters

Jul 18 2001 11:44PM

LONDON (Reuters) - Melting polar ice is threatening the main food

source for Antarctic blue whales and could lead to their extinction,

an international environmental group said Thursday.

 

The whales feed on small sea creatures known as krill, which in turn

eat microscopic marine algae. These live in sea ice and are released

in the summer when the ice melts.

 

The environmental group WWF said studies had shown that as the

temperature has increased in recent decades because of climate

change, sea ice had diminished rapidly and food supplies for blue

whales were getting scarce.

 

" If this decline continues it will seriously affect the entire

ecosystem of the Southern Ocean and could lead to the extinction of

the Antarctic blue whale, " WWF said in a statement ahead of a meeting

in London next week of the International Whaling Commission.

 

The blue whale population in the Antarctic was drastically reduced by

commercial whaling from 250,000 a century ago to probably below 1,000

today, WWF said.

 

The population has shown no signs of recovery since blue whales were

protected from whaling more than 35 years ago.

 

The blue whale, which weighs 160 tons and measures up to 30 yards

long, is the largest animal ever to live on Earth.

 

WWF said that apart from the effects of climate change, krill were

also threatened by an increase in commercial fishing.

 

WWF whale specialist Stuart Chapman said: " It would be a catastrophe

for the natural world if the decline of the blue whale was

accelerated by new commercial pressures. It would be the final nail

in the coffin. "

 

 

 

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" Today capital takes rank over compassion, and property is of greater

importance than people. Our Earth and it's animals are being

murdered. One must assume that today legality no longer coincides

with morality. So in order to live morally you must be living

outside the law. I write you this as a captive of the law, but ask

this of yourselves...Do I want to be held captive any longer? Will I

sit by and watch the rich eat the poor, the people eat the animals,

society devour our hope, and watch as our earth die around us?

LET FREEDOM RING! SUPPORT DIRECT ACTION! " -Former Political

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" burst into the McDonald's in the food court of a local shopping

center, spraying red paint on tables and chairs and overturning trash

cans. "

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