Large Sea Creatures Are Destroyed by Industrial Fishing

Scientist aboard the CCS Hudson ship, which set off for the first full tour of the Americas on November 19, 1969, allowing scientists to explore oceans. Ray Sheldon, which seems to be all over the ocean during the journey from microscopic plankton was very impressed. Wondering where and how far these tiny organisms spread, Sheldon and his fellow scientists carried the water they collected from the sea to Hudson’s laboratory in buckets and used a plankton counting machine to obtain data about the creatures they found, such as size and number.

Examining these tiny plankton in the lab, Sheldon discovered that life in the ocean was actually with a simple math rule discovered it was still going. Accordingly, the abundance of an organism is closely linked to its body size, i.e. the smaller the organism, the more it will be found in the ocean reached its conclusion. Sheldon thought this rule could govern all life in the ocean, from the smallest bacteria to the largest whales. As a matter of fact, this hunch proved correct, and the Sheldon spectrum was also observed in plankton, fish, and freshwater ecosystems, as is known. But according to the latest research, it seems that this ocean law has been violated.

Large sea creatures may disappear

In a paper published in the journal Science Advances, McGill University’s Eric Galbraith and colleagues suggest that the Sheldon spectrum is now more Does not apply to large sea creatures stated. According to the article, the total ocean biomass of larger fish and marine mammals due to industrial fishing, given that the Sheldon spectrum is still in effect. at very low levels exists. Galbraith said on the subject, “There was a rule that all ocean life followed for reasons we don’t fully understand, that we’ve changed in the last 100 years.” he declared.

In line with the research, Galbraith and colleagues combined satellite imagery, data on plankton from ocean samples, and marine mammal population estimates from the Nature Conservancy to see if the Sheldon spectrum holds up. Comparing the current results with the estimated data before 1850, the researchers found that the presence of plankton and small fish was at the same level, but that large fish and cetaceans had been present since 1800. decreased by more than 2 billion metric tons. detected. The biggest reason for this industrial fishing and unregulated, illegal hunting is thought to be. If it continues like this, great sea creatures in danger of extinction face to face.