Whaling , their most successful port.
Abraham Storck, 1690 Whaling by humans has existed since the
Stone Age. Ancient whalers used
harpoons to spear the bigger animals from boats out at sea. People from Norway and Japan started hunting whales around 2000 B.C. Whales are typically hunted for their
meat and blubber by aboriginal groups; they used baleen for baskets or roofing, and made tools and masks out of bones. The Inuit hunted whales in the Arctic Ocean. The
Basques started whaling as early as the 11th century, sailing as far as
Newfoundland in the 16th century in search of
right whales. 18th- and 19th-century whalers hunted whales mainly for their
oil, which was used as lamp fuel and a lubricant,
baleen or whalebone, which was used for items such as
corsets and
skirt hoops, and
ambergris, which was used as a fixative for perfumes. The most successful whaling nations at this time were the Netherlands, Japan, and the United States. Commercial whaling was historically important as an industry well throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Whaling was at that time a sizeable European industry with ships from Britain, France, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany, sometimes collaborating to hunt whales in the Arctic, sometimes in competition leading even to war. By the early 1790s, whalers, namely the Americans and Australians, focused efforts in the South Pacific where they mainly hunted sperm whales and right whales, with catches of up to 39,000 right whales by Americans alone. By 1853, US profits reached US$11m (£6.5m), equivalent to US$348m (£230m) today, the most profitable year for the American whaling industry. Commonly exploited species included North Atlantic right whales, sperm whales, which were mainly hunted by Americans, bowhead whales, which were mainly hunted by the Dutch, common minke whales, blue whales, and grey whales. The scale of whale harvesting decreased substantially after 1982 when the
International Whaling Commission (IWC) placed a moratorium which set a catch limit for each country, excluding aboriginal groups until 2004. Current whaling nations are Norway, Iceland, and Japan, despite their membership of the
IWC, as well as the aboriginal communities of Siberia, Alaska, and northern Canada. Subsistence hunters typically use whale products for themselves and depend on them for survival. National and international authorities have given special treatment to aboriginal hunters since their methods of hunting are seen as less destructive and wasteful. This distinction is being questioned as these aboriginal groups are using more modern weaponry and mechanized transport to hunt with, and have started to sell whale products. Some anthropologists argue that the term "subsistence" should apply to these cash-based exchanges as long as they take place within local production and consumption. In 1946, the IWC placed a moratorium, limiting the annual whale catch. Since then, yearly profits for these "subsistence" hunters have been close to US$31m (£20m) per year.
Other threats Whales can also be threatened by humans more indirectly. They are unintentionally caught in fishing nets by commercial fisheries as
bycatch and accidentally swallow fishing hooks.
Gillnetting and
Seine netting is a significant cause of mortality in whales and other marine mammals. Species commonly entangled include beaked whales. Whales are also affected by
marine pollution. High levels of
organic chemicals accumulate in these animals since they are high in the food chain. They have large reserves of blubber, more so for toothed whales as they are higher up the food chain than baleen whales. Lactating mothers can pass the toxins on to their young. These pollutants can cause
gastrointestinal cancers and greater vulnerability to infectious diseases. They can also be poisoned by swallowing litter, such as plastic bags. Advanced
military sonar harms whales. Sonar interferes with the basic biological functions of whales—such as feeding and mating—by impacting their ability to
echolocate. Whales swim in response to sonar and sometimes experience
decompression sickness due to rapid changes in depth. Mass
strandings have been triggered by sonar activity, resulting in injury or death. Whales are sometimes killed or injured during collisions with ships or boats. This is considered to be a significant threat to vulnerable whale populations such as the
North Atlantic right whale, whose total population numbers less than 500. It is believed that up to two thirds of whale-ship collisions are not reported; either because they are not noticed in large ships, they occur at night or during conditions of adverse weather or some other reasons.
Conservation Whaling decreased substantially after 1946 when, in response to the steep decline in whale populations, the
International Whaling Commission placed a moratorium which set a catch limit for each country; this excluded aboriginal groups up until 2004. As of 2015, aboriginal communities are allowed to take 280
bowhead whales off Alaska and two from the western coast of Greenland, 620 grey whales off Washington state, three
common minke whales off the eastern coast of Greenland and 178 on their western coast, 10
fin whales from the west coast of Greenland, nine
humpback whales from the west coast of Greenland and 20 off
St. Vincent and the Grenadines each year. Several species that were commercially exploited have rebounded in numbers; for example, grey whales may be as numerous as they were prior to harvesting, but the
North Atlantic population is
functionally extinct. Conversely, the North Atlantic right whale was extirpated from much of its former range, which stretched across the North Atlantic, and only remains in small fragments along the coast of Canada, Greenland, and is considered functionally extinct along the European coastline. The IWC has designated two whale sanctuaries: the
Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, and the
Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary. The Southern Ocean whale sanctuary spans and envelopes Antarctica. The Indian Ocean whale sanctuary takes up all of the Indian Ocean south of 55°S. At least 86 cetacean species are recognized by the
International Whaling Commission Scientific Committee. , six are considered at risk, as they are ranked "
Critically Endangered" (North Atlantic right whale), "
Endangered" (blue whale, North Pacific right whale, and sei whale,) and "
Vulnerable" (fin whale and sperm whale). Twenty-one species have a "
Data Deficient" ranking. Species that live in polar habitats are vulnerable to the effects of recent and ongoing
climate change, particularly the time when pack ice forms and melts. File:Blue Whale population, Pengo.svg|World population graph of
blue whales File:International Whaling Commission members.svg|World map showing
International Whaling Commission (IWC) members in blue File:Rorqual 070.jpg|Whale Research Expeditions by Mingan Island Cetacean Study (MICS),
Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
Whale watching off
Bar Harbour, Maine An estimated 13 million people went
whale watching globally in 2008, in all oceans except the Arctic. Rules and codes of conduct have been created to minimize harassment of the whales. Iceland, Japan and Norway have both whaling and whale watching industries. Whale watching lobbyists are concerned that the most inquisitive whales, which approach boats closely and provide much of the entertainment on whale-watching trips, will be the first to be taken if whaling is resumed in the same areas. Whale watching generated US$2.1 billion (£1.4 billion) per annum in tourism revenue worldwide, employing around 13,000 workers. In contrast, the whaling industry, with the moratorium in place, generates US$31 million (£20 million) per year.
In myth, literature and art Whales played a major part in shaping the art forms of many coastal civilizations, such as the
Norse, with some dating to the
Stone Age. Petroglyphs off a cliff face in Bangudae, South Korea show 300 depictions of various animals, a third of which are whales. Some show particular detail in which there are throat pleats, typical of
rorquals. These petroglyphs show these people, of around 7,000 to 3,500 B.C.E. in South Korea, were highly dependent on whales. The
Pacific Islanders and
Aboriginal Australians viewed whales as bringers of good and joy. One exception is
French Polynesia, where cetaceans are often met with brutality. In coastal regions of China, Korea and Vietnam, the worship of whale gods, who were associated with
Dragon Kings after the arrival of
Buddhism, was present along with related legends. In Thailand, the most common whales found are the
Bryde's whale. Thai fishermen call them
Pla pu (; ), "grandfather fish", and do not hunt them. In Vietnam, whales hold a
sense of divinity; funerals are sometimes held for beached whales, a custom deriving from Vietnam's ancient sea-based
Champa Kingdom. Whales play a role in sacred texts. The story of
Jonah being swallowed by a great fish is told both in the
Qur'an and in the biblical
Book of Jonah (and is mentioned by Jesus in the New Testament:
Matthew 12:40.). This episode was frequently depicted in
medieval art (for example, on a 12th-century column
capital at the abbey church of
Mozac, France). The "
leviathan" described at length in Job 41:1-34 is generally understood to refer to a whale. The "sea monsters" in Lamentations 4:3 have been taken by some to refer to marine mammals, in particular whales, although most modern versions use the word "jackals" instead. In 1585,
Alessandro Farnese, 1585, and Francois, Duke of Anjou, 1582, were greeted on his ceremonial entry into the port city of
Antwerp by floats including "Neptune and the Whale", indicating at least the city's dependence on the sea for its wealth. In 1896, an article in
The Pall Mall Gazette popularised a practice of
alternative medicine that probably began in the whaling town of
Eden,
Australia two or three years earlier. It was believed that climbing inside a whale carcass and remaining there for a few hours would relieve symptoms of
rheumatism. Whales are prevalent in modern literature.
Herman Melville's
Moby Dick features a "great white whale" as the main antagonist for Ahab. The tale is partly
based on historical events, including the albino sperm whale
Mocha Dick.
Rudyard Kipling's
Just So Stories includes the story of "How the Whale got in his Throat". A whale features in the award-winning children's book
The Snail and the Whale (2003) by
Julia Donaldson and
Axel Scheffler.
Niki Caro's film the
Whale Rider has a Māori girl ride a whale in her journey to be a suitable heir to the chieftain-ship. Walt Disney's film
Pinocchio features a showdown with a giant whale named
Monstro at the end of the film, voiced by
Thurl Ravenscroft. A recording of
Song with a Humpback Whale by a team of marine scientists became popular in 1970.
Alan Hovhaness's orchestral composition
And God Created Great Whales (1970) includes the recorded sounds of humpback and bowhead whales. File:Im Februar 1598 an der holländischen Küste gestrandeter Walfisch.jpg|Engraving by
Gilliam van der Gouwen depicting a stranded sperm whale being butchered on the Dutch coast, 1598 File:Gustave Doré - Baron von Münchhausen - 067.jpg|Illustration by
Gustave Doré of
Baron Munchausen's tale of being swallowed by a whale File:Oswald Brierly - Whalers off Twofold Bay, New South Wales, 1867.jpg|
Whalers off Twofold Bay, New South Wales.
Watercolour by
Oswald Brierly, 1867
In captivity s and trainers in an aquarium Belugas were the first whales to be kept in captivity. The first beluga was shown at
Barnum's Museum in
New York City in 1861. For most of the 20th century, Canada was the predominant source of wild belugas, followed by Russia when the practice was banned in Canada. Most captive belugas are caught in the wild, since captive-breeding has had limited success. Between 1960 and 1992, the
Navy studied marine mammals' abilities with
sonar, using dolphins and then belugas, to improve the detection of underwater objects. A similar program was used by the
Russian Navy during the Cold War, in which belugas were also trained for
antimining operations in the Arctic. As of 2006, 30 belugas were in Canada and 28 in the United States, and 42 deaths in captivity had been reported up to that time. Aquariums have tried housing other species of whales such as narwhal, Sowerby's beaked whale, grey whale, and minke whale in captivity, often unsuccessfully. ==See also==