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Chapter 7: Whales and Whaling The “Great” Whales: Baleen whales (e.g. Bowhead): 8 species Baleen (like plastic) Meat (for food or oil) Toothed whales (1 species: Sperm whale) Spermaceti (liquid wax – candles and lubricants) Meat (rendered into oil) No species hunted to extinction; BUT: many hunted to commercial extinction; and many stocks extirpated Baleen Corsets Krill (Baleen whale food) Amphipod (Gray whale food) Giant Squid (Sperm whale food) Baleen Baleen Whales - hunted for meat (for oil) and baleen • • • • • • • • Right Whale (Northern and Southern) Bowhead Whale Gray Whale Humpback Whale Blue Whale Fin Whale “Rorquals” Sei Whale Minke Whale Early Whaling • • • • (“thousands of years”): Eskimos First few centuries A.D.: Japan 800-1000 A.D.: Norway, Basque 17th Century: British, Dutch, American •Main target of early whalers •Listed as Endangered since the ESA was established •Listed as depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act •No longer hunted; but not recovering •Now divided into 3 species, ALL endangered The Right Whale (to hunt) North Pacific Right Whale: Eubalaena japonicus: ~100 left North Atlantic Right Whale: Eubalaena glacialis: ~300 left Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis: 7,500 •North Atlantic Right Whale: Eubalaena glacialis: •VERY few calves reported •Critical Habitat designated North Pacific Right Whale: Eubalaena japonicus •Critical Habitat designated 2006 •Now threatened by oil and gas development in their critical habitat Bowhead Whale • Atlantic: extinct • Pacific: about 7500, hunted (67 / year) by Alaskan Eskimos Eskimos carving muktuk from a Bowhead Whale Harpooning Sperm Whales In the Atlantic from New England; In the Pacific from Hawaii Bad end to a “Nantucket Sleigh Ride” Sperm Whale and Giant Squid (Architeuthis, up to 57 feet long!) 23MagnapinnidaeQ04.mpg 23MagnapinnidaeQ03.mpg 50MagnapinnidaeQ01.mpg California Gray Whale Feeding method Amphipods Winter Whale watching from Newport Beach: Davey’s Locker 673-1434 WINTER Gray whales hunted from 16 shore stations in California, and in Baja Lagoons Harpoon Gun Early Whaling Modern Whaling “Modern” Whaling Explosive Harpoon INVENTED 1868 Harpoon guns on fast steam-driven vessels - made it possible to catch the faster-swimming rorquals (blue, fin, Sei, and Minke whales). Factory Ship Sustaining Harvest by Serial Depletion: The History of Commercial Whaling Fin Fin Blue Sei Sperm War Humpback Fin Blue Minke Rorquals Largest animal ever to have lived on earth. Largest: 108 feet long Can weigh up to 150 tons Blue Whale: Was ~250,000; Now ~14,000 Common Dolphin: Off Dana Point 8/12/07 Fin Whale: Was ~470,000; Now ~111,000 Sei Whale: Was ~200,000; Now ~25,000 Minke Whale: Was ~140,000; Now ~940,000 ack Whale: Was down to a few thousand at the time of the mora Humpback Whale (baby) completely airborne - the only existing photograph showing a whale voluntarily flying International Whaling Commission (IWC) : Established by the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling – 1946 “The purpose of the Convention is to provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry” Originally 14, now 72 member nations Purpose is NOT “to protect all whales irrespective of their abundance” 1986: Commercial Moratorium Moratorium Loophole #1: Compliance is voluntary • Every year Norway violates the IWC moratorium • Kills ~ 600 North Atlantic Minke Whales • 1997; IWC passed a Resolution calling on Norway to halt all whaling activities under its jurisdiction. • Annually since 1998: Self-imposed quota of 6800 whales • Iceland plans to take 100 minke, 100 fin, and 50 sei whales within Iceland’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone. Since the moratorium Moratorium Loophole #2: Aboriginal / Subsistence Whaling allows subsistence quotas for groups whose “traditional aboriginal subsistence and cultural needs have been recognized” Limits for 2008-2012 • Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas stock of bowhead whales (taken by Alaskan Eskimos and native peoples of Chukotka):~67 / year • West Greenland fin whales (taken by Greenlanders):19 / year • West Greenland minke whales (taken by Greenlanders): 200 / year • West Greenland bowhead whales: 2 / year • East Greenland minke whales (taken by Greenlanders):12 / year • Humpback whales (taken by St Vincent and The Grenadines): 20 / year • Eastern North Pacific gray whales (taken by native peoples of the USA and the Russian Federation): ~140 / year Moratorium Loophole #3: Exceptions for “Research” Japan’s “research whaling” in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary • 2005-2007: “JARPA II” program • Annual kill of 850 Minke, 50 humpback and 50 fin whales within the Southern Ocean Sanctuary • Objectives: – Monitor the Antarctic Ecosystem – Monitor competition among whale species – Elucidate temporal and spatial changes in stock structure – Improve management procedure for Antarctic minke whale stocks • Whale meat is sold to wholesalers • The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources has questioned Japan’s lethal research methods and has called for a special review of the program. Japanese Minke whale harvest http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0709-interview_mike_sutton.html Emotional Anti-Whaling Battle Escalates in Southern Ocean CANBERRA, Australia, January 16, 2007 (ENS) - Australian Environment Minister Ian Campbell says Japanese whalers will not be allowed to dock in Australia as long as he is minister. The bow of the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise was damaged by the Japanese factory whaler Nissin Maru The Sea Shepherd vessel strikes the Japanese supply tanker Oriental Bluebird and deploys a sharp blade Captain Paul Watson calls "the can opener." Whalers use water cannons against Greenpeace The U.S. at IWC • will not consider lifting the moratorium on commercial whaling until Revised Management Scheme (RMS) is in place. • Opposes Iceland’s reservation to the moratorium on commercial whaling. • strongly questions Japan’s and Iceland’s claims that lethal scientific whaling is necessary to evaluate the impact of whale predation on fish stocks. • strongly supports proposals to establish whale sanctuaries in the South Pacific Ocean and in the South Atlantic Ocean U. S. laws Supporting IWC Decisions (In addition to ESA; MMPA) • Packwood/Magnuson and Pelly Amendments to the Fishermen's Protective Act: – U.S. Government must invoke sanctions against any nation that undermines the authority of the IWC. – But: Inconsistent with free-trade principles of World Trade Organization (WTO) Low Frequency Active Sonar • Deafeningly loud sonar is a proven danger to marine life, but its use throughout the world's oceans is spreading. This powerful movie makes plain what sonar does to whales • Thanks to a ruling by the U.S. Department of Commerce on January 23, 2007, the U.S. Navy will be able to test its powerful new SONAR system. • Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England permitted the U.S. Navy a two-year grace period, until January 2009, to test the new High-Power, Mid-Frequency SONAR system. • Several lawsuits have been filed • The American Cetacean Society asks you to write to your congressman to protest the two-year exemption.