Researchers
from the US and Canada recently published a report on the impact of
whaling on the ocean carbon cycle in the international Public Library of
Science, noting that the past century of killing the marine mammals may
have released 100 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere.
Saying
that whales are the “forests of the ocean,” study scientist Dr. Andrew
Pershing of the University of Maine in the USA, stated that the
cetaceans store carbon within their immense bodies.
When a whale
dies naturally, it transports the carbon to the ocean depths, away from
the atmosphere for up to hundreds of years. However, when whales are
killed, this carbon is released instead. The scientists thus cite this
as yet another reason that restoring whale and large fish populations
should be a top priority for the balance of marine ecosystems and our
planet.
Our sincere thanks, Dr. Pershing and fellow scientists in
the US and Canada. May such efforts as yours help us appreciate the
intricate harmony of nature so that we may more deeply respect and
protect the life of the majestic whale and all beings.
During an
interview published in the December 16, 2009 edition of The Irish Dog
Journal, Supreme Master Ching Hai reiterated the vital role of our
marine co-inhabitants, as well as humanity’s need to safeguard their
welfare, and in so doing, the survival of the planet.
Supreme Master Ching Hai:
Of course, animals also have very noble, vital roles in the physical
realm. In the oceans, fish play an important role in quickly recycling
nutrients in the ecosystem, which helps to sustain all the marine life.
Some
of them are from higher levels of consciousness; they only came down in
animal form to help humankind or other beings on Earth. You see, the
seals and the whales emanate an incredible, great power of divine love,
an unconditional love that could be likened to that between a mother and
her child.
And it is this love that is sustaining our planet
and keeping it from destruction up to now. So, we should never ever hunt
and kill these noble, gracious helpers of humankind and the planet.
http://www.physorg.com/news202985104.htmlhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8538033.stm