HOW MUCH IS A WHALE WORTH?

This young humpback whale is worth millions of dollars over its lifetime, just in its
ability to capture carbon and sink it to the ocean floor after its death.

The benefits provided by great whales, including capturing carbon, make a powerful
case for protecting them, according to economists.

The world’s largest whales are more than mere evolutionary marvels. By sequestering
carbon in the ocean, they can help humanity fight climate change—an ecosystem
service that may be worth millions of dollars per whale, according to a new analysis
by economists with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The analysis hasn’t yet been published in a peer-reviewed scientific paper, and there
are still important scientific knowledge gaps in terms of how much carbon whales can
capture. But based on the research that’s been done so far, it’s clear to the economists
that if we protect great whales, it will reap major dividends for the planet.

Chami hopes this finding will “start a conversation with the policymakers who don’t
buy into saving animals for the sake of animals.”

A natural carbon sink

Great whales help sequester carbon in a few ways. They hoard it in their fat and
protein-rich bodies, stockpiling tons of carbon like giant, swimming trees. When a
whale dies and its carcass descends to the bottom of the sea, that stored carbon is
taken out of the atmospheric cycle for hundreds to thousands of years, a literal carbon
sink.

A study published in 2010 estimated that eight types of baleen whales, including blue,
humpback, and minke whales, collectively shuttle nearly 30,000 tons of carbon into
the deep sea each year as their carcasses sink.