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Riley says: I think that endangered means there is a few of an animal left on the earth. It also means an animal that is really dangerous. Some endangered animals are owls.

I think that endangered means there is a few of an animal left on the earth. It also means an animal that is really dangerous. Some endangered animals are owls.

Riley asks: I am studying the blue whale. I have learnt that the blue whale is extinct. Is it possible that the blue whale could come back, out of extinction? Maybe there is one hiding somewhere out there. Is this a possibility?

Sean Bell replies: To answer your last questions first, a species that is totally extinct can not return (despite what the Jurassic Park films might say). Once that genetic lineage is gone, it is totally gone--scientists using cloning are modifying DNA in order to produce something that is as similar as possible (there are, or were, studies of this sort involving Mammoths, Quaggas, and Thylacines).
As for a species believed to be extinct that is really just "hiding", that is very possible. The Coelacanth is the last living species of a lineage that we thought went extinct in the Permian (the age BEFORE the dinosaurs!). Even thought it is several feet long, we didn't know it existed until the 1930's, when one was accidentally caught by fishermen in the Indian Ocean).
But to answer your first question, the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is not extinct as far as I've heard, but they are still not very common.

Sept, 17-2002 Riley asks:How did the blue whale get extinct? And why did the blue whale get extinct?

Sept 29-2002 Sean Bell replies: I don't know where you got the information (I think I replied to this once already) but the blue whale is NOT extinct (as far as any reports I've seen). If what you mean is ENDANGERED (meaning critically few in the wild), that is correct, and there are two reasons. The first is natural. Gigantic, slow-growing mammals with low reproductive rates and high nutrition requirements are always relatively rare in nature (compare the number of whales to the number of sardines, for examples; or number of Grizzly Bears to the number of squirrels in the Rockies). Of course, nature usually strikes a balance. Then reason number two--people--came along, and decided that whales were good for hunting. It probably didn't do much when whaling was done from small boats with spears (a blue whale is 100 feet long, a man is 6 feet tall with a 6 foot spear in a little boat--you should bet on the whale). But when explosives, whaling ships and industrial methods were used, whales like the blue, with small populations and low rates of recovery, were first to suffer. Fortunately, other, better people came along to put a stop to whaling, allowing the whale populations some time to recover.

Riley says: The Grey Whale is endangered because of oil spills on the ground. The oil seeps into ocean and harms the whales skin.

Ms R-M replies: Hey Riley, Using ships and boats to carry oil, gas and chemicals is an improtant way that people share and trade their resources. It is hard to imagine another way of sending oil from Canada to far away countrires. Some people think that we should develop different ways to send oil and gas to other places so that if a spill happens it doesn't hurt the sea and her creatures. To figure out a way to do that, lots of money would need to be spent to do research. Who do you think would pay for it? Do you think that people would want to pay more for oil so that oil companies could do that kind of research? Ms. R-M

Riley replies: Hi Ms. R.M. I think that we should stop shipping oil and gas on boats because a spill could kill the creatures in the ocean. I think that we should pay for research into other ways of transporting the oil and gas. I would donate my allowance to help the creatures. I would ask all of my friends to help me. Riley Krumes.