Nonlethal Whale Research Expedition A Success
Image Source: Flickr. By: Peat Bakke.
About 6 weeks ago, a group of researchers set out on a mission: to prove that Japan does not need to perform “lethal whale research” in order to obtain accurate and effective scientific information about the large marine mammals.
The mission was a success.
Australian, French and New Zealand scientists set out to Antarctic waters to perform their own nonlethal scientific research on the whales. Most of the whales studied were humpbacks; which the scientists took photos of and biopsy samples from 60 of them. They also attached satellite tracking devices to 30 of the whales in order to study their feeding and migration patterns.
They discovered that the humpback whales are recovering fairly well, but the blue whale population is down nearly 2%. The researchers also encountered a lot of minke whales—the main whale that Japan typically hunts—but unfortunately, ice and weather conditions made it impossible for those particular whales to be studied.
All in all, the scientists mainly wanted to focus on whale numbers, what they eat, how they move between areas of food and how they migrate to and from their breeding grounds. Nick Gales, leader of the expedition, claimed that “all of those questions can be and are being answered using nonlethal techniques”. He also added that although Japan does some “marvelous” nonlethal research, “the component of their work that results in the killing of the whales” is not required by the IWC.
Full results from the nonlethal research expedition will be reported to the IWC at the annual meeting in Morocco this June.
By Heidi Marshall
I have been with GreenFudge for about a year now, but I've had a passion for Nature my entire life. When I'm not writing articles, you can find me out hiking, gardening, working on green craft projects, or taking photos for my website. You can check out the site at http://arkisaeo.com
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Tags: Antarctica, expedition, humpback whales, IWC, japan, nonlethal whale research, study, whaling
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