Japan will kill 50 humpbacks

Japan will kill 50 humpbacks
Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com
April 26, 2007

Humpback whale populations are rebounding but concerns are rising over Japan's plans to kill 50 humpback whales for "scientific" research, reports a paper published in the latest issue of Science.

In the "News Focus" section of Science, Virginia Morell writes that Japan will kill 50 humpback whales, 50 fin whales, and more than 900 fin whales in the International Whaling Commission's (IWC) Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary each year. Japan claims that it will use the harvest to "help explain ecosystem dynamics in the Southern Ocean," though other scientists question their motives.

Annual whale harvest from 2001-2006 (2006 figures are not complete). Graph by mongabay.com, data from Science, background image courtesy of R. Wicklund OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP); University of North Carolina at Wilmington

"If Japan wants to resume commercial whaling, it should just come out and say that's what it's doing," she quotes marine biologist Nick Gales of the Australian Antarctic Division in Kingston, Tasmania, as saying. "But to do this in the name of science is simply not defensible."

Iceland and Norway also continue to take minke whales, though they admit the whaling is for commercial purposes. Japan has killed some 6500 minke whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary since 1987. By comparison, about 2100 whales killed worldwide by all countries combined between 1952 and 1986.

Despite the increase in killing, whale populations are recovering thanks to a 1986 moratorium by the IWC.

"The moratorium is probably one of the greatest conservation success stories of the 20th century," Phillip Clapham, a marine biologist with the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, told Morell. "Many species of whales that were really hammered are now making remarkable comebacks."

Humpback populations appear to be increasing, though at the expense of minke whales, reports Morell.

CITATION: Virginia Morell (2007). Killing Whales for Science? Science Express Thursday 26 April 2007.

Comments?

News options News index | RSS | Add to MyYahoo!

Advertisements:

Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing

MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)

CONTENTS

Rainforests
Tropical Fish
News
Madagascar
Pictures
Kids' Site
Languages
Blog
T-shirts
Newsletter
About
Contact
Archives
Interns
Help