Unexpected disaster when gray whales reappear in the Atlantic Ocean

For the first time in 200 years, a gray whale has been sighted in the Atlantic Ocean. Scientists warn that this is a bad omen for the Earth.

Scientists have confirmed that a gray whale has just appeared off the coast of New England, USA.

This is a mammal that has been absent from the Atlantic Ocean for the past two centuries. That's why its reappearance is a discovery that attracts a lot of attention, but at the same time, scientists are also concerned that this is the impact of climate change on marine life.

Gray whales have been extinct in the Atlantic since the 18th century. The cause may be due to overfishing by humans. (Photo: Gerald Soury/Getty Images).

Gray whales disappeared from the Atlantic Ocean in the 18th century, but in the past 15 years, people have encountered this animal five times in the Mediterranean Sea.

The gray whale was sighted on March 1, 2024 about 48km off the coast of New England . Researchers estimate it weighs 27,200 kg, a species that usually lives in the north Pacific Ocean. It is very likely that it is the same individual that appeared in the waters of Florida, USA, at the end of last year.

When they saw this animal in New England, the researchers were initially skeptical, but after flying back and forth over the sea for 45 minutes to get a closer look, they took a photo of it and confirmed it. is a gray whale.

Bad news for our planet

Scientists say they are very scared when they see this animal because its appearance is most likely due to global warming.

They said the Northwest corridor connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean in Canada has lost a lot of summer ice in recent years. That means gray whales can swim through this corridor in the summer, when they normally can't. So this gray whale in New England is a manifestation of changes in marine life due to climate change.

Gray whales are distinguished from other whales by their lack of a dorsal fin and their mottled skin, making them completely different from the humpback whales and minke whales commonly found in New England. Their cries are also very different. While humpback whales are known for their haunting "songs" , gray whales emit gurgling sounds like grumbling and complaining.

Gray whales were hunted almost to extinction during the era of widespread whaling. Today, they have rebounded enough to be considered a "least endangered" species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), although the organization still classifies whale populations in Asian waters as threatened.