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If whales could scream
JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO, an armada of boats set off from the coast of Norway to start the biggest commercial whale hunt anywhere in the world.
Norwegian whalers intend to kill up to 797 minke whales - the smallest of the great whales - across the north-east Atlantic. And there are plans for yet more killing in years to come, with an announcement from the Norwegian government that it may be increasing its self-established whaling quota three-fold.
Divers and conservationists have been campaigning for years to stop the annual slaughter of whales. We've been arguing that whaling is unnecessary and cruel and has absolutely no scientific value.
But our complaints are falling on deaf ears. Far from nearing an end to the killing, we're sliding down a slippery slope towards the bad old days of uncontrolled commercial whaling, as more whales are being killed each year.
Coastal communities around the world have killed whales for centuries. The blubber and meat provided a welcome source of light, heat and food that were sometimes essential for human survival. But this small-scale subsistence hunting probably had only a local impact on whale populations.
By the end of the 17th century the character of whaling had changed beyond all recognition.
In an age before petroleum or plastics, whales provided valuable raw materials for thousands of everyday products, from soap and candles to whips and corsets. There were huge profits to be made, and whaling rapidly became big business.
The slaughter reached its worst excesses around the middle of the past century, thanks largely to a series of technological advances in whaling vessels, killing equipment and processing methods.
In 1930/31, for example, a record 30,000 blue whales were killed and, in 1963/64, no fewer than 29,255 sperm whales. One by one, without pity, the great whales were hunted almost to the point of extinction. In the space of a few hundred years, literally millions of them were slaughtered around the world.
Today, we are left merely with the tattered remains: in most cases, no more than 5-10% of their original populations.
There are barely 300 surviving North Atlantic right whales; the bowhead has all but disappeared from vast areas of its former range; and so the catalogue of destruction unfolds. To make matters worse, it is virtually impossible to kill whales humanely. In some cases, it can take as long as an hour for them to die agonising deaths after explosive harpoons have blown huge, gaping holes in their bodies.
As one ex-whaler commented: "If whales could scream, whaling would have stopped many years ago."
But whales can't scream. And, quite clearly, we can't learn from past mistakes. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) outlawed commercial whaling in the mid-1980s .
Yet, in defiance of world opinion, several countries are expanding their whaling activities, while other pro-whaling nations watch with interest.
Norway lodged an objection to the ban - and so is free to kill as many whales as it wants. Iceland has been battling with the IWC for years, and stormed out in protest during a particularly heated debate over a decade ago. Yet, astonishingly, it was allowed back in.
Worse, it was welcomed back as a full member with an official objection to the moratorium - in one outrageous vote, it was given international blessing to hunt whales. Wasting no time, in August 2003, it resumed its programme and killed 36 minke whales. It landed 25 last year and plans to take another 39 this year.
Japan persists in hunting about 440 minke whales every year in the Antarctic, as well as 160 minkes, 50 sei, 50 Bryde's and 10 sperm whales in the North Pacific. There are rumours that it wants to double its Antarctic hunt next year.
The real concern now is that our worst fear could be coming true: there is a serious possibility that in the not-too-distant future, the moratorium on commercial whaling might be lifted altogether. Only one thing is certain: the whales are not saved yet.
Zoologist, conservationist, writer and broadcaster Mark Carwardine writes each month in DIVER. Visit his website, www.markcarwardine.com
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