May 2017 – Claire's Blog

Exploring Twitter

By Claire Chung

On May 26, 2017

In Grade 7, Language and Literature, Science

KAS hashtags:

#KASendangered
- The hashtag for the KAS 7th grade community to communicate with each other for this interdisciplinary unit.
#KASeaPolar
- The hashtag for a smaller group of other seventh graders who are also researching about endangered polar animals.

Twitter hashtags:

#SpeciesAtRisk
- This hashtag provides organizations who are aware of animals who are on the verge of being endangered or extinct.
#conservation
- This hashtag is useful because lots of tweets on endangered species and habitat protection were found, and there are many people looking at this hashtag.
#NOAA
- NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is an active organization/government agency that helps to protect life and property, and conserve/protect the Earth’s natural resources.
#SilentOilSpills
- Oil Spills are the main cause of beluga whale’s threatened status. This hashtag is used by organizations such as Greenpeace and the UN.
#togetherpossible
- This hashtag is created by WWF. Many people are using this hashtag to conserve animals nd create harmony between us and nature.

Organizations:

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
- The NOAA is an organization that branches into many categories, such as NOAA Ocean Explorer, NOAA Fisheries NWFSC, and NOAA Habitat. Thie organization provides solutions to help beluga whales and posts articles.
WWF (World Wildlife Fund)
- The World Wildlife Fund cares about almost every endangered species, including beluga whales. It creates infographics to explain a concept, which communicates effectively.
IUCN Red List
Marine Connection
- This organization protects the world’s dolphins and whales. It puts many pictures of whales to inspire people to protect them.

Beluga Whale Infographic

By Claire Chung

On May 25, 2017

In Grade 7, Language and Literature, Science

Beluga whales are under the threatened or endangered status in parts of the world. Even though there are still 150,000 belugas in the Arctic Circle, species are now going endangered far faster than they used to. A recent study estimated that the extinction rate has increased a hundredfold over the last century. The main reason of them being on the verge of being endangered is because of human activity. Human activity produces sound pollution (as well as toxic chemical spills) to more sensitive areas, killing the primary food source of the ocean and unbalancing the overall ecosystem in the Arctic Circle. Increasing greenhouse gas melts the sea ice that forms a natural barrier for beluga whales to be attacked by predators, and causes them to not be able to adapt successfully to a new environment without sea ice. This also promotes the emerging pathogens and diseases in their habitat. If we care together for beluga whales and try our best to conserve them, a difference will be made to conserve their habitat and the species within it.

Citation:
Beluga | Whales |Species | WWF. (2017). World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 30 May 2017, from https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/beluga

Speegle, J. (2017). NOAA Fisheries Issues Recovery Plan for Cook Inlet beluga whales. Retrieved 30 May 2017, from https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/node/55458

One Solution To Conserve Beluga Whales

By Claire Chung

On May 25, 2017

In Grade 7, Language and Literature, Science

In the post below, the 4 main reasons causing beluga whales to become endangered are frequent oil spills, in-water noise, overexploitation, and climate change. In this post, we will focus on one of the reasons — frequent oil spills, and aim for a solution that can solve this problem. Watch the 30-second video below to understand the problem and solution.

Population Trend of Beluga Whales

The growth of transportation of oil and gas is caused by our increasing need for fuel to power our society. One main use of fuel is transportation, mainly cars. Because of urbanization, we need cars to get to the society. As the number of people who use cars increase, more fuel is needed to power our cars, and sea transportation of oil and gas will become even more frequent. More frequent transportations over sensitive areas will produce sound pollution and increase the possibility of crashing with whales and oil spills. Hence, to decrease the frequency of steering ships across where beluga whales live, one solution is to use less fuel by replacing driving with walking or biking. Thinking back to the reasons that are causing belugas to decrease, this solution can actually solve 3 out of 4 problems. Walking instead of driving can also decrease the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and stop climate change. Sound pollutions will also become less as well.

Citation:
Beluga | Whales |Species | WWF. (2017). World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 30 May 2017, from https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/beluga

Speegle, J. (2017). NOAA Fisheries Issues Recovery Plan for Cook Inlet beluga whales. Retrieved 30 May 2017, from https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/node/55458

(2013). Overview of Fossil Fuels [image]. Retrieved 30 May 2017, from http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/fossilfuels.php

Ma, M. (2016). Rare beluga data show whales dive to maximize meals | UW Today [image]. Retrieved 1 June 2017, from http://www.washington.edu/news/2016/02/12/rare-beluga-data-show-whales-dive-to-maximize-meals/

Ma, M. (2017). Arctic sea ice loss impacts beluga whale migration [image]. Retrieved 1 June 2017, from https://phys.org/news/2017-01-arctic-sea-ice-loss-impacts.html

Joling, D. (2017). Beluga whales dive deep to eat [image]. Retrieved 1 June 2017, from https://www.tweentribune.com/article/tween56/beluga-whales-dive-deep-eat/

Population Trend of Beluga Whales

By Claire Chung

On May 25, 2017

In 7th Grade, Grade 7, Highlights, Language and Literature, Science

Below is a graph showing the population trends of Delphinapterus leucas (also as known as beluga whales) from 1994 to 2009 in the Alaskan Area. Since the reproductive cycle of a beluga is seasonal, in which female whales give birth every 3 years, the graph rises and dips in 3-year or 4-year cycles. However, our existence is causing other animals to lose the beautiful habitat they once had. Below are 4 main reasons that is causing the death of belugas to outnumber the newborn.

Why are beluga populations decreasing?
1. Frequent oil spills release toxic chemicals to the sea and can drastically damage the immune system of the belugas, and make them vulnerable to diseases such as pneumonia, ulcers, tumors, and bacterial infection.

2. Industrial development (especially in oil and gas) causes ships traveling among sensitive areas, producing noise that can hinder communications for Arctic marine species, including beluga whales. This negatively affects whales’ ability to prey, mate, navigate, avoid predators, and also increases the possibility of collisions with animals, especially whales, who use sound to communicate. Leading into the cycle, collisions with marine animals will increase the frequency of oil spills and contaminate the ocean in a faster rate.

3. Overexploitation of beluga whales is another factor of the decline of beluga population. Beluga whales live in the North where Eskimos live. The Eskimos hunt beluga whales for food and other needs. For example, Eskimos hunt beluga whale’s blubber for lipstick production. Beluga whales also have skin thick enough for people to produce leather.

4. Like polar bears, the beluga depends on sea ice for its existence and can be directly impacted by climate change. Arctic species have come here from a long way of evolution in order to adapt to the life around sea ice. Because of climate change, ice covers has been changing rapidly in area and thickness and shrinking far too quickly for these species to adapt. With ice, beluga whales lose a place to feed, take refuge, and hide from predators like orcas.

Citation:
Beluga | Whales |Species | WWF. (2017). World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 30 May 2017, from https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/beluga

Speegle, J. (2017). NOAA Fisheries Issues Recovery Plan for Cook Inlet beluga whales. Retrieved 30 May 2017, from https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/node/55458