What Would Happen If Cetaceans Disappeared?
Do you know how many cetacean species exist? Currently, there are at least ten living species of baleen whales and 65 or more living species of toothed whales (Leatherwood et al. 1983). This is quite a variety of marine mammals. From an extremely practical approach, perhaps the disappearance of one or only several cetacean species would still leave the marine environment intact. This, however, is not the case. At least one third or more of all cetacean species are at risk of becoming endangered. Because of pollution and habitat destruction, cetaceans are not the only marine organisms at risk of disappearing. In short, the world has reached a biological diversity crisis, both on land and in the sea. What would happen if cetacean species began disappearing from the marine ecosystem? Under “normal” circumstances, biological communities reach an equilibrium in which all of their elements become adjusted to each other. Mechanisms within the communities help maintain relative stability when
