Whales In The Wild

Saving the Whales


Executive Summary



he tragic decimation of the world's great whales by the whalers of many nations — which reached its worst excesses in the middle years of this century — has at last been curbed. But because of decades of overhunting, some species of whales and dolphins ha ve been driven to critically low levels. Some are still being killed, and they all face a wide range of new and increasing threats. Today, seven out of the eleven great whale species are considered to be endangered or vulnerable even after 30 or more year s of "protection" from whaling. At least three small cetaceans — the Indus and Yangtze river dolphins and the little Mexican porpoise, the vaquita — are on the edge of extinction.

Despite a number of conservation victories for the whales — including the indefinite moratorium on commercial whaling and the declaration of virtually the whole of the Southern Ocean as a whale sanctuary in 1994 — some whales are still dying. Since the mo ratorium came into effect in 1985-1986, Japan has killed over 2,400 minke whales for so-called scientific purposes, including 330 in 1995 in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Norway, which lodged an objection to the moratorium, has killed 287 whales und er the guise of science, and hunted for commercial purposes 1,117 whales from a badly depleted population.

As a result of centuries of unregulated whaling, the North Atlantic population of gray whales has become extinct, and another is endangered in the North Pacific. The northern right whale is now the most endangered of the large whales, with no evidence of recovery. The blue whale, the largest mammal to have ever lived on earth, shows no recovery at all in the Southern Hemisphere. Scientists estimate its original numbers in the Southern Hemisphere to be around 250,000, down to as few as 500 today.

The beluga whales of the St Lawrence river are critically endangered, with fewer than 500 remaining. Originally, they were the target of whalers; today, like many other whales and dolphins they are the victims of shipping disturbance including collisions, noise pollution, habitat degradation, and above all toxic contaminants. The beluga is so contaminated by DDT and PCBs that dead carcasses have to be disposed of as toxic waste. For over 20 years, WWF-Canada has been supporting — against enormous odds — p rotection and recovery efforts for the St Lawrence beluga and is co-chairing a government recovery team for the whales.

Folklore image of whales

Latest research also reveals that baleen whales, including gray whales and humpbacks, are also affected by chemical pollution. Until recently, it was thought that only the toothed cetaceans such as belugas, sperm whales, and dolphins, were affected. The c hemicals accumulate in the whales' blubber and are then released into their milk when they migrate to winter calving grounds.
What will happen to the next generation is unknown. But evidence is growing that the effects of industrial chemicals and pesticide run-offs on whales and dolphins are potentially the gravest threats to their survival. Even low levels of contaminants could increase susceptibility to disease and decreasing fertility. If this continues, it is possible that some apparently stable populations of long-lived animals, including whales and dolphins, could crash suddenly with little warning.

During the past 25 years, the fishery bycatch problem of driftnets and gillnets, has caused the death of thousands, if not millions, of cetaceans. However, in some countries today, fishing communities struggle to keep alive the centuries-old tradition of giving whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals, which are accidentally killed in fishing nets or which happen to wash ashore, a human burial. In Japan and Vietnam, temples and shrines built to commemorate the souls of whales drowned in fishing nets are still maintained.

Global concern over ongoing whaling by Japan and Norway continues, and WWF and other NGOs are pressuring these nations to abide by the IWC decisions. They are calling on Japan to stop scientific whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, and for Norwa y and Russia to withdraw their objections to the moratorium.

WWF is encouraging carefully controlled whale-watching which in 1992 attracted four million enthusiasts worldwide and generated over US$300 million in revenue. Through support to TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring programme of WWF and IUCN, WWF is clo sely investigating and monitoring the illegal trade in whale meat.

In order to secure the future of the world's whales, WWF believes that the indefinite moratorium on commercial whaling should be upheld, the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary strengthened, more whale sanctuaries and marine protected areas created, and marine pollution reduced significantly.

Since WWF's founding in 1961, which coincided with the highest number of whales reported killed — 66,090 — it has fought together with other NGOs to keep whales at the forefront of conservation as one if its highest priorities.



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Copyright 1996, The World Wide Fund For Nature