Whales and fish, two stories I tell my students

I'm taking a break from Emmy Awards nominations coverage to share a clip about over-hunting of whales from PBS's "Human Footprint" uploaded to PBS Terra's YouTube channel along with a TED-Ed video about over-fishing I already show my students.

First, watch PBS Terra's Inside the World’s ONLY Whale Warehouse.

Long before the days of fast-fashion and chain restaurants, humans were busy hunting down whales and nearly wiping them out... The efficiency of 20th-century whaling had a devastating impact. Join host Shane Campbell-Staton as he visits Paleontologist Nick Pyenson at Smithsonian's Whale Warehouse to uncover the history of whaling and its impact on our oceans.

My students already hear from me about the over-exploitation of whales for whale oil and its effects on the supply and price of whale oil, which led to the switch to petroleum, which the video described. However, they don't hear about the literally massive effect on biomass and whale numbers and the "everything is connected to everything else" feedback loop of the krill paradox. That's because I didn't know either until I watched the video. Now I know, so I can tell my students. That, or I can show this video to them. Welcome to blogging as professional development.

I follow the story of over-exploitation of whales with one about modern-day over-fishing, which supports a point I make throughout my environmental science course, people don't learn, at least the first time, so they repeat their mistakes. Here's the video I show my students already, TED-Ed asking Will the ocean ever run out of fish? - Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Jennifer Jacquet.

When most people think of fishing, we imagine relaxing in a boat and patiently reeling in the day’s catch. But modern industrial fishing -- the kind that stocks our grocery shelves -- looks more like warfare. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Jennifer Jacquet explain overfishing and its effects on ecosystems, food security, jobs, economies, and coastal cultures.

Lesson by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Jennifer Jacquet, directed by Anton Bogaty.

The same techniques that decimated whales are being used to over-exploit fish. As I mentioned above, we haven't learned — yet. But we can, so there is still hope.

PBS Terra has also uploaded a video about the effect of hunting on elephant evolution. Stay tuned to see if I write about it. In the meantime, stay tuned for my awards show coverage.