The humpback has two natural threats: the killer whale and the shark. But the most dangerous threat for these creatures is human beings:
- Commercial whaling
Whales received full protection by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) with a moratorium in the commercial hunting in 1986. Three countries - Japan, Norway and Iceland - have used loopholes in its wording to unilaterally resume hunting of several whale species. One is the so-called "purpose of scientific research". In order to stimulate the local market a recent plan of the Japanese government suggests to offer whale meat in school cafeterias as the storerooms are full of whale meat and blubber.
In April 2010 whale meat was found in restaurants in Santa Monica and Seoul, South Korea and scientists identified several different whale species in sashimi including fin whale, sei whale and Antarctic minke whale. All of these are listed with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which prohibits the international trade of endangered species. Read the full story
Here are some facts, taken from the WWF website:
Japan
has killed 8.201 minke whales in the Antarctic for "scientific purposes" since the moratorium in 1986. A total of 840 whales were killed by Japan under special permit during the 31 years before the moratorium 1. Japan took a total of 866 whales in 2006/07 season:- 3 Southern Hemisphere fin whales
- 508 Southern Hemisphere minke whales
- 197 North Pacific minke whales
- 51 North Pacific Brydes whales
- 101 North Pacific sei whales
- * 6 North Pacific sperm whales. 2
The 2005/06 season was the first time Japan had taken fin whales, an endangered species.
1 Info from IWC 58 Workshop document on Fin Whales WKM-AWI8
2 Info from IWC website submitted by the Government of New Zealand
Iceland
In 2006/07 Iceland took 60 minke whales under special permit for "scientific whaling", up from 39 in the last season 1. However Iceland announced in October 2006 that in addition to the whales caught for scientific research, they would resume commercial whaling and issued quotas for 30 minke whales and 9 fin whales 2.
In the 2006/2007 season, Iceland took 7 fin whales and 1 minke whale under its commercial whaling programme.
1 Info from IWC website
2 Info from Iceland Ministry of Fisheries website
Norway
Norway broke the moratorium in 1993 and resumed commercial whaling. Since then they have taken over 6.879 minke whales under objection 1.
Norway took 545 whales in 2006 season.
1 Info from IWC website - Ocean pollution
Analysis of blubber has shown traces of POP's (Persistent Organic Pollutants). A stranded sperm whale at the German coast of the North Sea had to be treated as dangerous waste because the body had been so polluted. These POP's also affect the reproduction of the whales. Mercury levels in marine mammals have reached a record high making the consumption of these animals extremely dangerous. - Noise pollution
Increasing noise pollution, in the form of underwater explorations for oil or gas, ships, air guns or newly developed underwater sonar systems, is affecting the navigational abilities of the whales. The "LFAS" (low frequency active sonar) is able to detect quiet vessels and therefore it produces extremely loud sound waves (up to 180 db!). All this could be linked to the increasing number of marine mammal strandings. - Marine debris
Lost or dumped equipment from the fishing industry is an increasing danger to the whales. They are not able to see these nylon nets and if they become entangled, they will drown. More and more whales, dolphins, porpoises, sharks and other marine mammals suffer painful deaths from entanglement. - Global warming
Global warming has an influence on the whale's food chain. There will be less krill if the ice crust of Antarctica is melting, which means blue whales would have to cover a much greater area to find enough food, leaving less food for the humpbacks. - Over-fishing
Several commercially used fish species are vastly over-fished, which means their population is endangered because they don't have enough time to reproduce. It's a disruption to the whale's food supply and, unfortunately, the steps to a sustainable fishing industry (with a fixed catch quota, for example) are taken very hesitantly. There is very good news recently (August, 2008) on krill making a comeback and how this will directly affect our whales. If you want to know more, please click HERE and read all about it.
