Soviet secrecy
Writing in the journal, Marine Mammal Science, researchers from the University of Washington say the California blue whales are now at 97% of their historical levels.
Continue reading the main story
“
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The real key finding here is that they are close to recovery which is a bit of a surprise”
Dr Tevor Branch
University of Washington
Working out that this species is now back at its traditional numbers required some dogged scientific sleuthing.
Whaling nations concentrated their hunting efforts on the colder waters of the Antarctic and until the practice was banned in 1966 some 346,000 of the animals were killed by harpoon.
The numbers of blue whales caught in the Pacific was much lower, approximately 3,400 between 1905 and 1971.
Much of this hunting was carried out by Russian fleets.
However most of the data on the catches was kept secret under the Soviet regime. Scientists have only recently been able to get access to this information in the archives.
However the location and size of the catches didn't give any clues to the types of blue whales that had been caught. There are two distinct populations, the California group and others that live near Japan and Russia.
Soviet secrecy
Writing in the journal, Marine Mammal Science, researchers from the University of Washington say the California blue whales are now at 97% of their historical levels.
Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
The real key finding here is that they are close to recovery which is a bit of a surprise”
Dr Tevor Branch
University of Washington
Working out that this species is now back at its traditional numbers required some dogged scientific sleuthing.
Whaling nations concentrated their hunting efforts on the colder waters of the Antarctic and until the practice was banned in 1966 some 346,000 of the animals were killed by harpoon.
The numbers of blue whales caught in the Pacific was much lower, approximately 3,400 between 1905 and 1971.
Much of this hunting was carried out by Russian fleets.
However most of the data on the catches was kept secret under the Soviet regime. Scientists have only recently been able to get access to this information in the archives.
However the location and size of the catches didn't give any clues to the types of blue whales that had been caught. There are two distinct populations, the California group and others that live near Japan and Russia.
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