THE TIDE, commercial whaling

The thought that humans almost drove whale species into extinction through hunting is not only horrifying but sickening. Whales are gentle animals which pose absolutely no threat to humans. actually they are very important in the cycle of life and maintaining healthy ecosystems in the oceans. However,commercial hunting has reduced populations of most, if not all the large whales to critical levels. Only the small minke whale (six to seven meters long and weighing five to seven tonnes) is still relatively abundant. Without sufficient information on populations, continued harvesting could cause the extinction of some species.

There are two types of whale; baleen and toothed. The key difference between them is the way they feed and what they have inside their mouth.

Baleen whales have baleen plates, or sheets, which sieve prey from seawater. Toothed whales have teeth and they actively hunt fish, squid and other sea creatures. Dolphins and porpoises all have teeth and rather confusingly are known as ‘toothed whales’ too!

baleen plates

Toothed whale

Another obvious difference between baleen and toothed whales is the number of blowholes on top of their head; baleen whales have two whereas toothed whales have one. There are only 14 baleen whale species and they are generally larger than the 76 species of toothed whales – except for the mighty sperm whale, the largest toothed whale. To learn more on different types of whales and how to differentiate them visit https://uk.whales.org/whales-dolphins/whales/

Commercial whaling began in the 11th century with the Basque inhabitants of the French and Spanish coastlines of the Bay of Biscay. They depleted local populations of whales, starting with right whales, Basque efforts expanded north, influencing other nations in northern Europe and eventually North America to begin their own whaling operations. Great Britain started hunting bowhead whales around the North American colonies in 1611 and American colonists began whaling (a practice known as Yankee whaling) out of Nantucket, Massachusetts, in 1712.

Through the 18th and 19th centuries, whaling was driven by demand not for meat, but for whale oil, which literally lit the lamps and greased the wheels of the industrial revolution. Other whale products also held value, including ambergris (a stomach excretion of sperm whales used as a perfume fixative) and baleen (most famously used to stiffen womens’ corsets).

As whaling ships became faster (with the advent of steam vessels) and larger, whaling became both more efficient and more competitive, with whaling nations establishing remote land stations and deploying factory ships that could spend months at sea processing whale oil on board. By the 20th century, industrial-scale commercial whaling had begun to target whales on their feeding grounds in the Antarctic, decimating whale populations. Scientists estimate that 2.9 million whales were killed between 1900 and 1999 and many species suffered catastrophic declines. Some populations, including the North Atlantic gray whale, were lost forever. Others, such as the North Atlantic right whale, number in the low hundreds even after decades of protection.

The major industrial whaling nations of the early 20th century included Great Britain, the United States, Norway, the Netherlands, Japan, Germany, and the Soviet Union, but whalers from Australia and Brazil also had a significant presence in the southern hemisphere. As whale populations began to dramatically decline, governments started to recognize the importance of "managing" whaling and conserving whale stocks, not just for future human generations but also for their own sake.

Early attempts at regulating whaling fell short as Japan and other leading whaling nations refused to participate. In 1946, however, shortly after the close of the Second World War, governments of the main whaling nations came together to negotiate the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW), recognizing the "interest of the nations of the world in safeguarding for future generations the great natural resources represented by the whale stocks." The ICRW established the International Whaling Commission (IWC) whose (then) 15 member nations (known as contracting governments) were authorized to adopt, by three-quarters majority vote, binding regulations on catch limits, whaling methods, protected areas, when whaling was permitted, and what species (including minimum sizes) could be killed.

While this system brought some measure of control to ongoing commercial whaling operations and offered respite for some of the most threatened species, commercial whaling largely continued unchecked under the auspices of the IWC. Indeed, the IWC was unable to detect violations by its member nations or enforce its regulations, and the Soviet Union killed 180,000 more whales than it reported to the IWC over a 25-year period. Underreporting of catch data is also known to have occurred in Japan’s coastal whaling.

The IWC was also unable to prevent whaling from occurring as a result of two provisions included in the ICRW—a provision allowing governments to take objections to, and exempt themselves from, regulations they did not support and a clause (Article VIII) authorizing governments to issue “special permits” for scientific research whaling on whales. With declining demand for whale products, a growing awareness of the intelligence and sentience of whales and their role in the ecosystem, and increased understanding of whale suffering at the hands of whalers, the IWC, at its meeting in 1982, agreed to a moratorium on all commercial whaling. At that meeting, the IWC set all commercial whale quotas to zero with an effective date of 1986 for coastal and 1985/86 for pelagic (open sea) whaling seasons.

The commercial whaling moratorium was a landmark event and remains one of the most effective decisions ever made by an international body for the protection of wildlife. Before it went into effect, tens of thousands of whales were being killed annually by whaling nations, reaching a peak of as many as 72,000 whales a year in the 1960s. By 1986, when the moratorium went into effect, four of the remaining whaling nations had stopped whaling, and the Soviet Union stopping commercial whaling at the end of the 1986/1987 Antarctic whaling season. However, Norway, Iceland, and Japan have persisted, continuing to hunt hundreds of whales a year for commercial gain in defiance of the moratorium and despite the widely held belief that commercial whaling is no longer necessary or acceptable

However, despite these measures, whales remain at risk from a range of other factors.

Pollution

Exposure to chronic pollutants can have a devastating impact on the health and fertility of marine mammals. In particular, concern is now focused on organochlorines, such as PCBs, once widely used in industry. An estimated 65% of the total volume of PCBs ever produced world-wide are still in use, in storage, or have been deposited into landfills. Currently some 20% have made their way into oceans. These pollutants concentrate in fatty tissue such as blubber and milk. Females transfer them in large quantities to their young when suckling.

The World Health Organisation standard classifies any material with a PCB level of 50 parts per million (ppm) as highly toxic waste. Levels of organochlorines found in marine mammals in some parts of the world far exceed this level.

Toxic algal blooms

While these occur naturally they are also thought to be stimulated by factors such as pollution, population growth, changing weather patterns and dredging of the ocean floor. Many `red tide' algae produce phyto-toxins, which can be amongst the most potent natural poisons in the world. Red tides have caused mass mortality of whales and dolphins in the USA and Europe.

Ozone depletion

Since the discovery of the ozone hole over Antarctica, concern has been raised over the effect of increased UV-B radiation. Even small increases could result in major changes to the marine ecosystem.

Global warming

Global warming could affect marine mammals by impacting on the food chain and therefore their food supply.

Whale watching

Whale watching is an expanding tourist industry grossing over $700 million world-wide. In New Zealand, a tourism industry is based on regular visits of sperm and other whale species to the deep waters off the coast of Kaikoura.

Whale watching provides opportunities for education and furthering scientific knowledge. However, the rapid growth of the industry is raising concerns over possible impacts on the behaviour, migration and breeding of whales. The number of whale watching vessels around whales may disturb their normal activity. Physical harm can also be inflicted by collisions and cuts from propellers.

Regulations are necessary to provide adequate safeguards for whales from whale watching vessels. New Zealand's Marine Mammals Protection Regulations are recognised as a world leader in this area.

As we conclude on the first series of the tide it is important to appreciate the key role aquatic orgsnisms play in sustaining life in water and also on land. Watch the Netflix documentary on oceans and seas and get a better visual understanding of our oceans. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FqwhW0B3tY