Thanks to the brutal practice of whaling over the last century, whales are still recovering from plummeting populations: nearly three million whales were killed. Today, whales (and their dolphin cousins) face constant threats from entanglements in fishing gear, ship strikes, noise, pollution, and habitat loss. Further, plastic particles outnumber plankton in many of their key feeding grounds.

Researchers from Harvard University have determined that whales’ feeding habits actually ‘fertilise’ phytoplankton, which in turn provides half the world’s oxygen, scientific evidence that firmly links healthy whale populations to the fight against climate change.

Whether you love whales, or not – it’s critical to protect them. Healthy whale populations play a vital role in our world’s largest and most important ecosystem – an ecosystem that provides more oxygen than all the rainforests combined is our best defence against rising CO2 levels, and provides more than a fifth of the world’s population with food.

By protecting whales and their habitats, we are ultimately protecting ourselves. Taking action to protect whales could come in the form of going plastic free, joining a local beach clean or becoming a diver, while supporting responsible ecotourism and whale tourism by swimming with whales. When we see something, we care about it more. Your first whale encounter will make you a whale advocate for life – and you can do so with dive providers all over the world. It also ensures that whales are protected around the world – thanks to the tourism impact upon local economies.