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122-523: Søren Berntsen (1880–1940) was an important figure in the history of whaling in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands . Arriving in the islands with the floating factory ship Bucentaur , Berntsen established the shore station at Husvik in 1910, and became the first manager of it. The station operated until the 1930s. This South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands article

244-594: A moratorium on commercial whaling of great whales beginning in the 1985–86 season. Since 1992, the IWC's Scientific Committee has requested that it be allowed to give quota proposals for some whale stocks, but this has so far been refused by the Plenary Committee. At the 2010 meeting in Morocco, representatives of the 88 member states discussed whether to lift the 24-year ban on commercial whaling. Japan, Norway and Iceland urged

366-472: A boat was pulled approximately 120 km away towards Timor (see Nantucket sleighride ), while in another case, the hunted whale capsized the boat and forced the fishermen to swim for 12 hours back to the shore. When the commercial whaling moratorium was introduced by the IWC in 1982, Japan lodged an official objection. However, in response to US threats to cut Japan's fishing quota in US territorial waters under

488-407: A circumvention of the moratorium, Iceland ceased whaling in 1989. Following the IWC's 1991 refusal to accept its Scientific Committee's recommendation to allow sustainable commercial whaling, Iceland left the IWC in 1992. Iceland rejoined the IWC in 2002 with a reservation to the moratorium. Iceland presented a feasibility study to the 2003 IWC meeting for catches in 2003 and 2004. The primary aim of

610-412: A darker gray to black in color. A mature gray whale can reach 40 t (44 short tons), with a typical range of 15–33 t (17–36 short tons), making them the ninth largest sized species of cetacean. Notable features that distinguish the gray whale from other mysticetes include its baleen that is variously described as cream, off-white, or blond in color and is unusually short. Small depressions on

732-453: A few mothers linger with their young calves well into May. Whale watching in Baja's lagoons is particularly popular because the whales often come close enough to boats for tourists to pet them. By late March or early April, the returning animals can be seen from Puget Sound to Canada. A population of about 200 gray whales stay along the eastern Pacific coast from Canada to California throughout

854-553: A few others the two business models exist in an uneasy tension. The live capture of cetaceans for display in aquaria (e.g., captive killer whales ) continues. Whaling began in prehistoric times in coastal waters. The earliest depictions of whaling are the Neolithic Bangudae Petroglyphs in Korea, which may date back to 6000 BC. These images are the earliest evidence for whaling. Although prehistoric hunting and gathering

976-494: A gray whale 30 miles (48 km) south of Nantucket, Massachusetts . Researchers used a genetic approach to estimate pre-whaling abundance based on samples from 42 gray whales, and reported DNA variability at 10 genetic loci consistent with a population size of 76,000–118,000 individuals, three to five times larger than the average census size as measured through 2007. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has collected surveys of gray whale population since at least

1098-691: A gray whale was sighted off Sunny Isles Beach, Florida . Genetic analysis of fossil and prefossil gray whale remains in the Atlantic Ocean suggests several waves of dispersal from the Pacific to the Atlantic related to successive periods of climactic warming – during the Pleistocene before the last glacial period and the early Holocene immediately following the opening of the Bering Strait . This information and

1220-455: A group of local craftsmen clan called ata molã, and the fishermen will mourn the "death" of their ships for two months. These days, the Lamalerans use a motor engine to power their boats; however, their tradition dictates that once a whale has been caught, fishermen will have to row their boats and the whale back to the shore. The traditional practices made whaling a dangerous hunt. In one case,

1342-597: A group of two or three were observed feeding in Izu Ōshima in 1994 for almost a month, two single individuals stayed in Ise Bay for almost two months in the 1980s and in 2012, the first confirmed living individuals in Japanese EEZ in the Sea of Japan and the first of living cow-calf pairs since the end of whaling stayed for about three weeks on the coastline of Teradomari in 2014. One of

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1464-473: A handful of capture records support this idea, although migrations into the sea have been confirmed. Recent studies using genetics and acoustics, suggest that there are several wintering sites for western gray whales such as Mexico and the East China sea. However, their wintering ground habits in the western North Pacific are still poorly understood and additional research is needed. Even though South Korea put

1586-644: A historically unique event. That study suggested that over the past 100,000 years there have been several migrations of gray whales between the Pacific and Atlantic, with the most recent large scale migration of this sort occurring about 5,000 years ago. These migrations corresponded to times of relatively high temperatures in the Arctic Ocean. In 2021, one individual was seen in the port of Rabat , Morocco , followed by sightings in Algeria and Italy . In March 2024, New England Aquarium researchers photographed

1708-574: A member of the family Balaenopteridae . This mammal is descended from filter-feeding whales that appeared during the Neogene . The gray whale is distributed in a Northeast Pacific (North American), and an endangered Northwest Pacific (Asian), population. North Atlantic populations were extirpated (perhaps by whaling ) on the European coast before 500 CE , and on the American and African Atlantic coasts around

1830-651: A population of 103,000 minkes in the northeast Atlantic. With respect to the populations of Antarctic minke whales, as of January 2010, the IWC states that it is "unable to provide reliable estimates at the present time" and that a "major review is underway by the Scientific Committee." Whale oil is used little today, and modern whaling is primarily done for food: for pets, fur farms, sled dogs and humans, and for making carvings of tusks, teeth and vertebrae. Both meat and blubber ( muktuk ) are eaten from narwhals, belugas and bowheads. From commercially hunted minkes, meat

1952-584: A prey of choice, gray whales are opportunistic feeders and can easily switch from feeding planktonically to benthically. When gray whales feed planktonically, they roll onto their right side while their fluke remains above the surface, or they apply the skimming method seen in other baleen whales (skimming the surface with their mouth open). This skimming behavior mainly seems to be used when gray whales are feeding on crab larvae. Other prey items include polychaete worms , herring eggs, various forms of larvae, and small fish. Gray whales feed benthically, by diving to

2074-429: A subfossil found in the brackish Baltic Sea , apparently a specimen from the now extinct north Atlantic population. Lilljeborg, however, identified it as " Balaenoptera robusta ", a species of rorqual . Gray 1864 realized that the rib and scapula of the specimen was different from those of any known rorquals, and therefore erected a new genus for it, Eschrichtius . Van Beneden & Gervais 1868 were convinced that

2196-535: A successful whaling industry. German whaling ships in the mid to late 19th century would generally not be staffed with experienced sailors but rather with members of more wealthy farming communities, going for short trips to Scandinavia during the end of spring and beginning of summer, when their labor was not required on the fields. This kind of whaling was ineffective. Many journeys would not lead to any whales caught, instead seal- and polar bear skins were brought back to shore. Communities often paid more for equipping

2318-511: A temporary ecosystem at the ocean floor. Despite rebounding whale numbers after the international ban on whaling, climate change and rising carbon levels continue to hinder the amount of carbon sequestered by whales. Whaling was a major maritime industry in Australia from 1791 until its final cessation in 1978. At least 45 whaling stations operated in Tasmania during the 19th century, and bay whaling

2440-594: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Whaling Archaeological evidence suggests the earliest known forms of whaling date to at least 3000 BC, practiced by the Inuit and other peoples in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. Coastal communities around the world have long histories of subsistence use of cetaceans , by dolphin drive hunting and by harvesting drift whales . Widespread commercial whaling emerged with organized fleets of whaling ships in

2562-626: Is approximately 13  1 ⁄ 2 months, with females giving birth every one to three years. In the latter half of the pregnancy, the fetus experiences a rapid growth in length and mass. Similar to the narrow breeding season, most calves are born within a six-week time period in mid January. The calf is born tail first, and measures about 14–16 ft in length, and a weight of 2,000 lbs. Females lactate for approximately seven months following birth, at which point calves are weaned and maternal care begins to decrease. The shallow lagoon waters in which gray whales reproduce are believed to protect

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2684-432: Is believed to be the longest annual migration of any mammal . By mid-December to early January, the majority are usually found between Monterey and San Diego such as at Morro bay , often visible from shore. The whale watching industry provides ecotourists and marine mammal enthusiasts the opportunity to see groups of gray whales as they migrate. By late December to early January, eastern grays begin to arrive in

2806-516: Is categorized as 'aboriginal subsistence hunters' by the IWC. The Lamalerans hunt for several species of whales but catching sperm whales are preferable, while other whales, such as baleen whales, are considered taboo to hunt. They caught five sperm whales in 1973; they averaged about 40 per year from the 1960s through the mid 1990s, 13 total from 2002 to 2006, 39 in 2007, an average of 20 per year 2008 through 2014, and caught 3 in 2015. Traditional Lamaleran whaling used wooden fishing boats built by

2928-419: Is distinctive and easy to distinguish from that of all other living whales. Many other names have been ascribed to the gray whale, including desert whale, devilfish, gray back, mussel digger and rip sack. The name Eschrichtius gibbosus is sometimes seen; this is dependent on the acceptance of a 1777 description by Erxleben. A number of 18th century authors described the gray whale as Balaena gibbosa ,

3050-606: Is eaten by humans or animals, and blubber is rendered down mostly to cheap industrial products such as animal feed or, in Iceland, as a fuel supplement for whaling ships. International cooperation on whaling regulation began in 1931 and culminated in the signing of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) in 1946. Its aim is to: provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible

3172-625: Is generally considered to have had little ecological impact, early whaling in the Arctic may have altered freshwater ecology. Early whaling affected the development of widely disparate cultures on different continents. The Basques were the first to catch whales commercially and dominated the trade for five centuries, spreading to the far corners of the North Atlantic and even reaching the South Atlantic . The development of modern whaling techniques

3294-595: Is only one confirmed record of accidentally killing of the species in Vietnam, at Ngoc Vung Island off Ha Long Bay in 1994 and the skeleton is on exhibition at the Quang Ninh Provincial Historical Museum. Gray whales are known to occur in Taiwan Strait even in recent years. It is also unknown whether any winter breeding grounds ever existed beyond Chinese coasts. For example, it is not known if

3416-400: Is reported that demand for whale meat decreased in that year. Lamalera, on the south coast of the island of Lembata , and Lamakera on neighbouring Solor , are the two remaining Indonesian whaling communities. The hunters obey religious taboos that ensure that they use every part of the animal. About half of the catch is kept in the village; the rest is bartered in local markets. In 1973,

3538-562: Is required to adequately track whale products. It was revealed in 1994 that the Soviet Union had been systematically undercounting its catch. For example, from 1948 to 1973, the Soviet Union caught 48,477 humpback whales rather than the 2,710 it officially reported to the IWC. On the basis of this new information, the IWC stated that it would have to rewrite its catch figures for the last 40 years. According to Ray Gambell, then-Secretary of

3660-463: Is sold through shops and supermarkets in northern communities where whale meat is a component of the traditional diet. Hunters in Hudson Bay rarely eat beluga meat. They give a little to dogs and leave the rest for wild animals. Other areas may dry the meat for later consumption by humans. An average of one or two vertebrae and one or two teeth per beluga or narwhal are carved and sold. One estimate of

3782-588: Is the shallow (5–15 m (16–49 ft) depth) shelf off northeastern Sakhalin Island , particularly off the southern portion of Piltun Lagoon, where the main prey species appear to be amphipods and isopods . In some years, the whales have also used an offshore feeding ground in 30–35 m (98–115 ft) depth southeast of Chayvo Bay, where benthic amphipods and cumaceans are the main prey species. Some gray whales have also been seen off western Kamchatka, but to date all whales photographed there are also known from

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3904-508: The Akishima whale ( E. akishimaensis ). Some recent studies place gray whales as being outside the rorqual clade , but as the closest relatives to the rorquals. But other recent DNA analyses have suggested that certain rorquals of the family Balaenopteridae , such as the humpback whale , Megaptera novaeangliae , and fin whale , Balaenoptera physalus , are more closely related to the gray whale than they are to some other rorquals, such as

4026-608: The Beaufort Sea , 300 in northern Quebec ( Nunavik ), and an unknown number in Nunavut . The total annual kill in Beaufort and Quebec areas varies between 300 and 400 belugas per year. Numbers are not available for Nunavut since 2003, when the Arviat area, with about half Nunavut's hunters, killed 200–300 belugas, though the authors say hunters resist giving complete numbers. Harvested meat

4148-588: The Beluga whale article, Indonesia's catches of sperm whales, and bycatch in Korea. Most of the whale species in the table are not considered endangered by the IUCN ("least concern" or "data deficient"). Only the sei whale is classified as "endangered", and the fin whale is classified as "vulnerable" by the IUCN. Key elements of the debate over whaling include sustainability, ownership, national sovereignty, cetacean intelligence , suffering during hunting, health risks,

4270-539: The Bering and Chukchi seas and ending in the warm-water lagoons of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula and the southern Gulf of California , they travel along the west coast of Canada, the United States and Mexico. Traveling night and day, the gray whale averages approximately 120 km (75 mi) per day at an average speed of 8 km/h (5 mph). This round trip of 16,000–22,000 km (9,900–13,700 mi)

4392-559: The Islas Marías , Bahía de Banderas , and Nayarit / Jalisco , and there were two modern calving grounds in Sonora ( Tojahui or Yavaros ) and Sinaloa ( Bahia Santa Maria , Bahia Navachiste, La Reforma, Bahia Altata) until being abandoned in the 1980s. These first whales to arrive are usually pregnant mothers looking for the protection of the lagoons to bear their calves, along with single females seeking mates. By mid-February to mid-March,

4514-444: The Sea of Okhotsk , mainly off Piltun Bay region at the northeastern coast of Sakhalin Island (Russian Federation). There are also occasional sightings off the eastern coast of Kamchatka (Russian Federation) and in other coastal waters of the northern Okhotsk Sea. Its migration routes and wintering grounds are poorly known, the only recent information being from occasional records on both

4636-568: The Second World War , German whaling was abandoned completely. In the early 1950s, Germany maintained one whaling vessel for testing purpose as it considered re-establishing a German whaling fleet, but abandoned these plans in 1956. The last remaining German whalers worked for Dutch vessels in the 1950s and 1960s. Iceland is one of a handful of countries which still host a (privately owned) whaling fleet. One company ( Hvalur hf. ) concentrates on hunting fin whales, largely for export to Japan, while

4758-1108: The Shakotan Peninsula , and islands in the La Pérouse Strait such as Rebun Island and Rishiri Island . These areas may also have included feeding grounds. There are shallow, muddy areas favorable for feeding whales off Shiretoko , such as at Shibetsu , the Notsuke Peninsula , Cape Ochiishi on Nemuro Peninsula , Mutsu Bay , along the Tottori Sand Dunes , in the Suou-nada Sea , and Ōmura Bay . The historical calving grounds were unknown but might have been along southern Chinese coasts from Zhejiang and Fujian Province to Guangdong , especially south of Hailing Island and to near Hong Kong . Possibilities include Daya Bay , Wailou Harbour on Leizhou Peninsula , and possibly as far south as Hainan Province and Guangxi , particularly around Hainan Island . These areas are at

4880-646: The United Nations 's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) sent a whaling ship and a Norwegian whaler to modernize their hunt. This effort lasted three years and was not successful. According to the FAO report, the Lamalerans "have evolved a method of whaling which suits their natural resources, cultural tenets and style." Lamalerans say they returned the ship because they immediately caught five sperm whales, too many to butcher and eat without refrigeration. Since these communities only hunt whales for noncommercial purposes, it

5002-534: The flukes . This is known as the dorsal ridge . The tail itself is 3–3.5 m (10–11 ft) across and deeply notched at the center while its edges taper to a point. The two populations of Pacific gray whales (east and west) are morphologically and phylogenically different. Other than DNA structures, differences in proportions of several body parts and body colors including skeletal features, and length ratios of flippers and baleen plates have been confirmed between Eastern and Western populations, and some claims that

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5124-409: The minke whales . The American Society of Mammalogists has followed this classification. John Edward Gray placed it in its own genus in 1865, naming it in honour of physician and zoologist Daniel Frederik Eschricht . The common name of the whale comes from its coloration. The subfossil remains of now extinct gray whales from the Atlantic coasts of England and Sweden were used by Gray to make

5246-641: The "whale with six bosses", apparently based on a brief note by Dudley 1725 : The Scrag Whale is near a kin to the Fin-back, but instead of a Fin upon his Back, the Ridge of the Afterpart of his Back is cragged with half a Dozen Knobs or Nuckles; he is nearest the right Whale in Figure and for Quantity of Oil; his Bone is white, but won't split. The gray whale was first described as a distinct species by Lilljeborg 1861 based on

5368-418: The 17th century. This population ranged at least from Southampton, New York , to Jupiter Island, Florida , the latest from 1675. In his 1835 history of Nantucket Island , Obed Macy wrote that in the early pre-1672 colony a whale of the kind called "scragg" entered the harbor and was pursued and killed by the settlers. A. B. Van Deinse points out that the "scrag whale", described by P. Dudley in 1725 as one of

5490-539: The 17th century; competitive national whaling industries in the 18th and 19th centuries; and the introduction of factory ships and explosive harpoons along with the concept of whale harvesting in the first half of the 20th century. By the late 1930s, more than 50,000 whales were killed annually. In 1982, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) decided that there should be a pause on commercial whaling on all whale species from 1986 onwards because of

5612-466: The 1930s when it was finally realised that the extinct Atlantic population was the same species as the extant Pacific population, and the new combination Eschrichtius gibbosus was proposed. The gray whale has a dark slate-gray color and is covered by characteristic gray-white patterns, which are scars left by parasites that drop off in its cold feeding grounds. Individual whales are typically identified using photographs of their dorsal surface, matching

5734-773: The 1960s. They state that "the most recent population estimate [from 2007] was approximately 19,000 whales, with a high probability (88%) that the population is at 'optimum sustainable population' size, as defined by the Marine Mammal Protection Act ." They speculate that the ocean ecosystem has likely changed since the prewhaling era, making a return to prewhaling numbers infeasible. Factors limiting or threatening current population levels include ship strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, and changes in sea-ice coverage associated with climate change. Several whales seen off Sakhalin and on Kamchatka Peninsula have been confirmed to migrate towards eastern side of Pacific and join

5856-621: The Caribbean (where people are advised not to exceed one serving every three weeks), in the Faroe Islands, and in Japan. Scientists have analyzed the ability of the oceans to sequester atmospheric carbon before industrial whaling and in modern times, hundreds of years after the most active whaling periods. Focusing on the amount of carbon stored in baleen whales, scientists determined that large marine mammals hold over 9 million less tons of carbon in

5978-496: The DNA analysis of last recorded stranding in China. Differences were also observed between Korean and Chinese specimens. Two Pacific Ocean populations are known to exist: one population that is very low, whose migratory route is presumed to be between the Sea of Okhotsk and southern Korea, and a larger one with a population of about 27,000 individuals in the eastern Pacific traveling between

6100-655: The IUCN downlisted the population's conservation status from critically endangered to endangered . The gray whale became extinct in the North Atlantic in the 18th century. They had been seasonal migrants to coastal waters of both sides of Atlantic, including the Baltic Sea , the Wadden Sea , the Gulf of St. Lawrence , the Bay of Fundy , Pamlico Sound and possibly Hudson Bay . Radiocarbon dating of subfossil or fossil European (Belgium,

6222-408: The IWC moratorium lifted on certain whale stocks for hunting. Anti-whaling countries and environmental activists oppose lifting the ban. Under the terms of the IWC moratorium, aboriginal whaling is allowed to continue on a subsistence basis . Over the past few decades, whale watching has become a significant industry in many parts of the world; in some countries it has replaced whaling, but in

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6344-512: The IWC, because in its opinion, the IWC had failed its duty to promote sustainable hunting as the culture within the IWC moved towards an anti-whaling, pro-conservation agenda. Japanese officials also announced they will resume commercial hunting within its territorial waters and its 200-mile exclusive economic zones starting in July 2019, but it will cease whaling activities in the Antarctic Ocean,

6466-460: The IWC, the organization had raised its suspicions with the former Soviet Union, but it did not take further action because it could not interfere with national sovereignty. Whales are long-lived predators, so their tissues build up concentrations of methylmercury from their prey. Mercury concentrations reach levels that are hazardous to humans who consume too much too often, since mercury also bioaccumulates in humans. High levels have been found in

6588-718: The Japanese claim of research "as a disguise for commercial whaling, which is banned." The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has attempted to disrupt Japanese whaling in the Antarctic since 2003 but eventually ceased this activity in 2017 due to little achievement in creating change. Other NGOs such as the Australian Marine Conservation Society and Humane Society International continued to campaign against Japan's scientific whaling program and block votes at IWC to bring back commercial whaling. The stated purpose of

6710-614: The Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom) coastal remains confirms this, with whaling the possible cause for the population's extinction. Remains dating from the Roman epoch were found in the Mediterranean during excavation of the antique harbor of Lattara near Montpellier , France, in 1997, raising the question of whether Atlantic gray whales migrated up and down the coast of Europe from

6832-448: The Piltun area. Diagram of the gray whale seafloor feeding strategy Predicted distribution models indicate that overall range in the last glacial period was broader or more southerly distributed, and inhabitations in waters where species presences lack in present situation, such as in southern hemisphere and south Asian waters and northern Indian Ocean were possible due to feasibility of

6954-577: The Southern Ocean, which was declared a whale sanctuary in 1994. Opponents of the compromise plan want to see an end to all commercial whaling but are willing to allow subsistence-level catches by indigenous peoples . These totals include great whales: counts from IWC and WDC and IWC Summary Catch Database version 6.1, July 2016. The IWC database is supplemented by Faroese catches of pilot whales, Greenland's and Canada's catches of narwhals (data 1954–2014), belugas from multiple sources shown in

7076-611: The Wadden Sea to calve in the Mediterranean. A 2018 study utilizing ancient DNA barcoding and collagen peptide matrix fingerprinting confirmed that Roman era whale bones east of the Strait of Gibraltar were gray whales (and North Atlantic right whales ), confirming that gray whales once ranged into the Mediterranean. Similarly, radiocarbon dating of American east coastal subfossil remains confirm that gray whales existed there at least through

7198-470: The annual gross value received from Beluga hunts in Hudson Bay in 2013 was CA$ 600,000 for 190 belugas, or CA$ 3,000 per beluga, and CA$ 530,000 for 81 narwhals, or CA$ 6,500 per narwhal. However the net income, after subtracting costs in time and equipment, was a loss of CA$ 60 per person for belugas and CA$ 7 per person for narwhals. Hunts receive subsidies, but they continue as a tradition rather than for

7320-414: The anti-whaling side for the continuation of scientific whaling. Deputy whaling commissioner, Joji Morishita, told BBC News : The reason for the moratorium [on commercial whaling] was scientific uncertainty about the number of whales. ... It was a moratorium for the sake of collecting data and that is why we started scientific whaling. We were asked to collect more data. This collusive relationship between

7442-651: The better documented historical catches show that it was common for whales to stay for months in enclosed waters elsewhere, with known records in the Seto Inland Sea and the Gulf of Tosa. Former feeding areas were once spread over large portions on mid-Honshu to northern Hokkaido, and at least whales were recorded for majority of annual seasons including wintering periods at least along east coasts of Korean Peninsula and Yamaguchi Prefecture . Some recent observations indicate that historic presences of resident whales are possible:

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7564-475: The bones described by Lilljeborg could not belong to a living species but that they were similar to fossils that Van Beneden had described from the harbour of Antwerp (most of his named species are now considered nomina dubia ) and therefore named the gray whale Plesiocetus robustus , reducing Lilljeborg's and Gray's names to synonyms. Charles Melville Scammon produced one of the earliest descriptions of living Pacific gray whales, and notwithstanding that he

7686-570: The breeding season, it is common for females to have several mates. This single ovulation event is believed to coincide with the species' annual migration patterns, when births can occur in warmer waters. Most females show biennial reproduction, although annual births have been reported. Males also show seasonal changes, experiencing an increase in testes mass that correlates with the time females undergo oestrus. Currently there are no accounts of twin births, although an instance of twins in utero has been reported. The gestation period for gray whales

7808-412: The bulk of the population has arrived in the lagoons, filling them with nursing, calving and mating gray whales. Throughout February and March, the first to leave the lagoons are males and females without new calves. Pregnant females and nursing mothers with their newborns are the last to depart, leaving only when their calves are ready for the journey, which is usually from late March to mid-April. Often,

7930-488: The calving lagoons and bays on the west coast of Baja California Sur . The three most popular are San Ignacio , Magdalena Bay to the south, and, to the north, Laguna Ojo de Liebre (formerly known in English as Scammon's Lagoon after whaleman Charles Melville Scammon , who discovered the lagoons in the 1850s and hunted the grays). Gray whales once ranged into Sea of Cortez and Pacific coasts of continental Mexico south to

8052-619: The catch methods used to capture and kill the whales. The Inuit mastered the art of whaling around the 11 century AD in the Bering Strait . The technique consisted of spearing a whale with a spear connected to an inflated seal bladder. The bladder would float and exhaust the whale when diving, and when it surfaced the Inuit hunters would spear it again, further exhausting the animal until they were able to kill it. Vikings in Greenland also ate whale meat, but archaeologists believe they never hunted them on

8174-532: The catch. The average per year from 2012 to 2016 was around 150 minke and 17 fin whales and humpback whales taken from west coast waters and around 10 minke from east coast waters. In April 2009 Greenland landed its first bowhead whale in nearly 40 years. It landed three bowheads each year in 2009 and 2010, one each in 2011 and 2015. In 2021 the Sermersooq municipal council banned whaling in Nuup Kangerlua , one of

8296-431: The eastern and western coasts of Japan and along the Chinese coast. Gray whale had not been observed on Commander Islands until 2016. The northwestern pacific population consists of approximately 300 individuals, based on photo identification collected off of Sakhalin Island and Kamchatka. The Sea of Japan was once thought not to have been a migration route, until several entanglements were recorded. Any records of

8418-435: The eastern population. In mid-1980, there were three gray whale sightings in the eastern Beaufort Sea , placing them 585 kilometers (364 mi) further east than their known range at the time. Recent increases in sightings are confirmed in Arctic areas of the historic range for Atlantic stocks, most notably on several locations in the Laptev Sea including the New Siberian Islands in the East Siberian Sea , and around

8540-450: The environment on those days. Range expansions due to recoveries and re-colonization in the future is likely to happen and the predicted range covers wider than that of today. The gray whale undergoes the longest migration of any mammal. Each October, as the northern ice pushes southward, small groups of eastern gray whales in the eastern Pacific start a two- to three-month, 8,000–11,000 km (5,000–6,800 mi) trip south. Beginning in

8662-449: The existence of cetaceans. Large ships and boats make a tremendous amount of noise that falls into the same frequency range of many whales. Bycatch also kills more animals than hunting. Some scientists believe pollution to be a factor. Moreover, since the IWC moratorium, there have been several instances of illegal whale hunting by IWC nations. In 1994, the IWC reported evidence from genetic testing of whale meat and blubber for sale on

8784-624: The extreme depletion of most of the whale stocks. Contemporary whaling for whale meat is subject to intense debate. Iceland, Japan, Norway, First Nations people in Canada, Native Americans in the USA, and the Danish dependencies of the Faroe Islands and Greenland continue to hunt in the 21st century. The IWC ban on commercial whaling has been very successful, with only Iceland, Japan and Norway still engaging in and supporting commercial hunting. They also support having

8906-441: The first scientific description of a species then surviving only in Pacific waters. The living Pacific species was described by Cope as Rhachianectes glaucus in 1869. Skeletal comparisons showed the Pacific species to be identical to the Atlantic remains in the 1930s, and Gray's naming has been generally accepted since. Although identity between the Atlantic and Pacific populations cannot be proven by anatomical data, its skeleton

9028-550: The hunt of one whale every two years from the Hudson Bay-Foxe Basin population, and one whale every 13 years from the Baffin Bay-Davis Strait population. The traditional whale hunt, known as grindadráp , is regulated by Faroese authorities but not by the IWC, which does not claim jurisdiction over small cetaceans. Around 800 long-finned pilot whales ( Globicephala melaena ) are caught each year, mainly during

9150-468: The larger eastern population. In January 2011, a gray whale that had been tagged in the western population was tracked as far east as the eastern population range off the coast of British Columbia. Recent findings from either stranded or entangled specimens indicate that the original western population have become functionally extinct, and possibly all the whales that have appeared on Japanese and Chinese coasts in modern times are vagrants or re-colonizers from

9272-477: The largest fjords in inhabited areas of Greenland. The council did not want hunting to kill the humpback whales seen by the local tourism industry. Before local humpback hunting resumed in 2010 there had been nine humpbacks in the fjord during summer. When hunting resumed some were killed and others left. Sermersooq has not banned whaling elsewhere in the municipality, which is the world's largest municipality, at 200,000 square miles on both coasts. Originally one of

9394-406: The late 17th to early 18th centuries. However, in the 2010s and 2020s there have been rare sightings of gray whales in the North Atlantic , Mediterranean , and even off South Atlantic coasts. The gray whale is traditionally placed as the only living species in its genus and family, Eschrichtius and Eschrichtiidae , but an extinct species was discovered and placed in the genus in 2017,

9516-573: The marine mammal sanctuary of the Franz Josef Land , indicating possible earlier pioneers of re-colonizations. These whales were darker in body color than those whales seen in Sea of Okhotsk. In May 2010, a gray whale was sighted off the Mediterranean shore of Israel. It has been speculated that this whale crossed from the Pacific to the Atlantic via the Northwest Passage , since an alternative route around Cape Horn would not be contiguous to

9638-424: The money, and the economic analysis noted that whale watching may be an alternate revenue source. Of the gross income, CA$ 550,000 was for beluga skin and meat, to replace beef, pork and chickens which would otherwise be bought, CA$ 50,000 was received for carved vertebrae and teeth. CA$ 370,000 was for narwhal skin and meat, CA$ 150,000 was received for tusks, and carved vertebrae and teeth of males, and CA$ 10,000

9760-564: The most effort into conservation of the species among the Asian nations, there are no confirmed sightings along the Korean Peninsula or even in the Sea of Japan in recent years. The last confirmed record in Korean waters was the sighting of a pair off Bangeojin , Ulsan in 1977. Prior to this, the last was of catches of 5 animals off Ulsan in 1966. There was a possible sighting of a whale within

9882-611: The most successful whaling nations, German whaling vessels started from Hamburg and other smaller cities on the Elbe River, hunting for whales around Greenland and Spitsbergen . While 1770 is recorded to have been the most successful year of German whaling, German whaling went into steep decline with the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars and never really recovered. After the Napoleonic Wars, Germany tried but could never re-establish

10004-471: The newborn from sharks and orcas . On 7 January 2014, a pair of newborn or aborted conjoined twin gray whale calves were found dead in the Laguna Ojo de Liebre (Scammon's Lagoon), off the west coast of Mexico. They were joined by their bellies. The whale feeds mainly on benthic crustaceans (such as amphipods and ghost shrimp ), which it eats by turning on its side and scooping up sediments from

10126-471: The northwest Pacific Ocean, and the Australian Whale Sanctuary . Gray whale The gray whale ( Eschrichtius robustus ), also known as the grey whale , is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and breeding grounds yearly. It reaches a length of 14.9 meters (49 ft), a weight of up to 41 tonnes (90,000 lb) and lives between 55 and 70 years, although one female

10248-520: The ocean floor and rolling on to their side, (like blue whales, gray whales seem to favor rolling onto their right side) and suck up prey from the sea floor. Gray whales seem to favor feeding planktonically in their feeding grounds, but benthically along their migration route in shallower water. Mostly, the animal feeds in the northern waters during the summer; and opportunistically feeds during its migration, depending primarily on its extensive fat reserves. Another reason for this opportunistic feeding may be

10370-417: The ocean than during the pre whaling era (9.1 x 10^6 tons). Whales play an important role in the carbon cycle in life and death. Living whales cycle carbon and nitrogen throughout the water column via whale feces where it can contribute to primary productivity at the surface. In death, their carcasses can become part of a whale fall and sink to the bottom, bringing their carbon with them to help form

10492-441: The only other one hunts minke whales for domestic consumption, as the meat is popular with tourists . Iceland has its own whale watching sector, which exists in uneasy tension with the whaling industry. Iceland did not object to the 1986 IWC moratorium. Between 1986 and 1989 around 60 animals per year were taken under a scientific permit. However, under strong pressure from anti-whaling countries, who viewed scientific whaling as

10614-540: The only sighting of this species in the Southern Hemisphere. Photographic identification suggests that this is a different individual than the one spotted in the Mediterranean in 2010. As of July 2013, the Namibian whale was still being seen regularly. In March 2021, a gray whale was sighted near Rabat , the capital of Morocco . In April, additional sightings were made off Algeria and Italy . In December 2023,

10736-455: The open market in Japan in 1993. In addition to the legally permitted minke whale, the analyses showed that 10–25% of tissues sampled came from non-minke baleen whales . Further research in 1995 and 1996 showed a significant drop of non-minke baleen whales sampled to 2.5%. In a separate paper, Baker stated that "many of these animals certainly represent a bycatch (incidental entrapment in fishing gear)" and stated that DNA monitoring of whale meat

10858-543: The orderly development of the whaling industry. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) was set up under the ICRW to decide hunting quotas and other relevant matters based on the findings of its Scientific Committee. Non-member countries are not bound by its regulations and conduct their own management programs. It regulates hunting of 13 species of great whales and has not reached consensus on whether it may regulate smaller species. The IWC voted on July 23, 1982, to establish

10980-465: The organisation to lift the ban. A coalition of anti-whaling nations offered a compromise plan that would allow these countries to continue whaling but with smaller catches and under close supervision. Their plan would also completely ban whaling in the Southern Ocean . More than 200 scientists and experts have opposed the compromise proposal for lifting the ban and have also opposed allowing whaling in

11102-423: The original eastern and western groups could have been much more distinct than previously thought, enough to be counted as subspecies. Since the original Asian and Atlantic populations have become extinct, it is difficult to determine the unique features among whales in these stocks. However, there have been observations of some whales showing distinctive, blackish body colors in recent years. This corresponds with

11224-409: The pair returned to the same coasts at the same time of the year in 2015 again. Reviewing on other cases on different locations among Japanese coasts and islands observed during 2015 indicate that spatial or seasonal residencies regardless of being temporal or permanental staying once occurred throughout many parts of Japan or on other coastal Asia. The current western gray whale population summers in

11346-427: The population hit an all-time low in 2010, when no new reproductive females were recorded, resulting in a minimum of 26 reproductive females being observed since 1995. Even a very small number of additional annual female deaths will cause the subpopulation to decline. However, as of 2018, evidence has indicated that the western population is markedly increasing in number, especially off Sakhalin Island . Following this,

11468-711: The port of Samcheok in 2015. There had been 24 records along Chinese coasts including sighting, stranding, intended hunts, and bycatches since 1933. The last report of occurrence of the species in Chinese waters was of a stranded semi adult female in the Bohai Sea in 1996, and the only record in Chinese waters in the 21st century was of a fully-grown female being killed by entanglement in Pingtan , China in November, 2007. DNA studies indicated that this individual might have originated from

11590-426: The recent sightings of Pacific gray whales in the Atlantic, suggest that another range expansion to the Atlantic may be starting. Breeding behavior is complex and often involves three or more animals. Both male and female whales reach puberty between the ages of 6 and 12 with an average of eight to nine years. Females show highly synchronized reproduction, undergoing oestrus in late November to early December. During

11712-648: The research program is to establish the size and dynamics of whale populations. The Japanese government wishes to resume whaling in a sustainable manner under the oversight of the IWC, both for whale products (meat, etc.) and to help preserve fishing resources by culling whales. Anti-whaling organizations claim that the research program is a front for commercial whaling, that the sample size is needlessly large and that equivalent information can be obtained by non-lethal means, for example by studying samples of whale tissue (such as skin) or feces. The Japanese government sponsored Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), which conducts

11834-506: The research, disagrees, stating that the information obtainable from tissue and/or feces samples is insufficient and that the sample size is necessary in order to be representative. Japan's scientific whaling program is controversial in anti-whaling countries. Countries opposed to whaling have passed non-binding resolutions in the IWC urging Japan to stop the program. Japan claims that whale stocks for some species are sufficiently large to sustain commercial hunting and blame filibustering by

11956-406: The result of population increases, resulting in the whales taking advantage of whatever prey is available, due to increased competition. Feeding areas during migration seem to include the Gulf of California, Monterey Bay and Baja California Sur. Calf gray whales drink 50–80 lb (23–36 kg) of their mothers' 53% fat milk per day. The main feeding habitat of the western Pacific subpopulation

12078-419: The scars and patches associated with parasites that have either fallen off or are still attached. They have two blowholes on top of their head, which can create a distinctive heart-shaped blow at the surface in calm wind conditions. Gray whales measure from 4.9 m (16 ft) in length for newborns to 13–15 m (43–49 ft) for adults (females tend to be slightly larger than adult males). Newborns are

12200-499: The sea floor. This unique feeding selection makes gray whales one of the most strongly reliant on coastal waters among baleen whales. It is classified as a baleen whale and has baleen , or whalebone, which acts like a sieve, to capture small sea animals, including amphipods taken in along with sand, water and other material. Off Vancouver Island, gray whales commonly feed on shrimp-like mysids . When mysids are abundant gray whales are present in fairly large numbers. Despite mysids being

12322-493: The sea. Greenlandic Inuit whalers catch around 175 large whales per year, mostly minke whales, as well as 360 narwhals, 200 belugas, 190 pilot whales and 2,300 porpoises. The government of Greenland sets limits for narwhals and belugas. There are no limits on pilot whales and porpoises. The IWC treats the west and east coasts of Greenland as two separate population areas and sets separate quotas for each coast. The far more densely populated west coast accounts for over 90% of

12444-497: The southwestern end of the known range. It is unknown whether the whales' normal range once reached further south, to the Gulf of Tonkin . In addition, the existence of historical calving ground on Taiwan and Penghu Islands (with some fossil records and captures ), and any presence in other areas outside of the known ranges off Babuyan Islands in Philippines and coastal Vietnamese waters in Gulf of Tonkin are unknown. There

12566-566: The species had not been confirmed since after 1921 on Kyushu . However, there were numerous records of whales along the Genkai Sea off Yamaguchi Prefecture , in Ine Bay in the Gulf of Wakasa , and in Tsushima . Gray whales, along with other species such as right whales and Baird's beaked whales , were common features off the north eastern coast of Hokkaido near Teshio , Ishikari Bay near Otaru ,

12688-640: The species hunted by the early New England whalers, was almost certainly the gray whale. Since the 2010s, there have been occasional sightings of gray whales in the Atlantic Ocean and in the Mediterranean Sea , including one off the coast of Israel and one off the coast of Namibia . These were presumably migrants from the North Pacific population through the Arctic Ocean . A 2015 study of DNA from subfossil gray whales indicated that this may not be

12810-600: The study was to deepen the understanding of fish–whale interactions. Amid disagreement within the IWC Scientific Committee about the value of the research and its relevance to IWC objectives, no decision on the proposal was reached. However, under the terms of the convention the Icelandic government issued permits for a scientific catch. In 2003 Iceland resumed scientific whaling which continued in 2004 and 2005. Iceland resumed commercial whaling in 2006. Its annual quota

12932-500: The summer, not making the farther trip to Alaskan waters. This summer resident group is known as the Pacific Coast feeding group. Any historical or current presence of similar groups of residents among the western population is currently unknown, however, whalers' logbooks and scientific observations indicate that possible year-round occurrences in Chinese waters and Yellow and Bohai basins were likely to be summering grounds. Some of

13054-419: The summer. Other species are not hunted, though occasionally Atlantic white-sided dolphin can be found among the pilot whales. Most Faroese consider the hunt an important part of their culture and history and arguments about the topic raise strong emotions. Animal-rights groups criticize the hunt as being cruel and unnecessary and economically insignificant. Hunters claim that most journalists lack knowledge of

13176-594: The terms of the Packwood -Magnuson Amendment, Japan withdrew its objection in 1987. According to the BBC , the US went back on this promise, effectively destroying the deal. Since Japan could not resume commercial whaling, it began whaling on a purported scientific-research basis. Australia , Greenpeace , the Australian Marine Conservation Society , Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and other groups dispute

13298-417: The upper jaw each contain a lone stiff hair, but are only visible on close inspection. Its head's ventral surface lacks the numerous prominent furrows of the related rorquals, instead bearing two to five shallow furrows on the throat's underside. The gray whale also lacks a dorsal fin , instead bearing 6 to 12 dorsal crenulations ("knuckles"), which are raised bumps on the midline of its rear quarter, leading to

13420-406: The value of 'lethal sampling' to establish catch quotas, the value of controlling whales' impact on fish stocks and the rapidly approaching extinction of a few whale species. The World Wide Fund for Nature says that 90% of all northern right whales killed by human activities are from ship collisions, calling for restrictions on the movement of shipping in certain areas. Noise pollution threatens

13542-531: The vessels in the first place than making money with the goods brought back to shore. Today, local historians believe that German whaling in the late 19th century was more a rite of passage for the sons of wealthy farmers from northern German islands than an action undertaken for true commercial reason. German whaling was abandoned in 1872. Prior to the First World War , the newly established German Empire attempted to re-establish large scale German whaling. This

13664-448: The waters off northernmost Alaska and Baja California Sur . Mothers make this journey accompanied by their calves, usually hugging the shore in shallow kelp beds, and fight viciously to protect their young if they are attacked, earning gray whales the moniker, devil fish. The western population has had a very slow growth rate despite heavy conservation action over the years, likely due to their very slow reproduction rate. The state of

13786-551: The whale's established territory. There has been gradual melting and recession of Arctic sea ice with extreme loss in 2007 rendering the Northwest Passage "fully navigable". The same whale was sighted again on May 30, 2010, off the coast of Barcelona , Spain. In May 2013, a gray whale was sighted off Walvis Bay , Namibia. Scientists from the Namibian Dolphin Project confirmed the whale's identity and thus provides

13908-589: The whales visited the southern coasts of the Korean Peninsula, adjacent to the Island of Jeju ), Haiyang Island, the Gulf of Shanghai , or the Zhoushan Archipelago . There is no evidence of historical presence in Japan south of Ōsumi Peninsula ; only one skeleton has been discovered in Miyazaki Prefecture . Hideo Omura once considered the Seto Inland Sea to be a historical breeding ground, but only

14030-587: The whaling industry and the Japanese government is sometimes criticized by pro-whaling activists who support local, small-scale coastal whaling such as the Taiji dolphin drive hunt . In September 2018, Japan chaired the 67th IWC meeting in Brazil and attempted to pass a motion to lift the moratorium on commercial whaling. Japan did not receive enough votes and the IWC rejected the motion. Subsequently, on 26 December 2018, Japan announced that it would withdraw its membership from

14152-458: Was 30 minke whales (out of an estimated 174,000 animals in the central and north-eastern North Atlantic ) and nine fin whales (out of an estimated 30,000 animals in the central and north-eastern North Atlantic ). For the 2012 commercial whaling season, starting in April and lasting six months, the quota was set to 216 minke whales, of which 52 were caught. Iceland did not hunt any whales in 2019, and it

14274-869: Was among the whalers who nearly drove them to extinction in the lagoons of the Baja California Peninsula , they were and still are associated with him and his description of the species. At this time, however, the extinct Atlantic population was considered a separate species ( Eschrischtius robustus ) from the living Pacific population ( Rhachianectes glaucus ). Things got increasingly confused as 19th century scientists introduced new species at an alarming rate (e.g. Eschrichtius pusillus , E. expansus , E. priscus , E. mysticetoides ), often based on fragmentary specimens, and taxonomists started to use several generic and specific names interchangeably and not always correctly (e.g. Agalephus gobbosus , Balaenoptera robustus , Agalephus gibbosus ). Things got even worse in

14396-625: Was conducted out of other mainland centres. Modern whaling using harpoon guns and iron hulled catchers was conducted in the 20th century from shore-based stations in Western Australia , South Australia , New South Wales and Queensland , also in Norfolk Island . Overfishing saw the closure of some whaling stations before a government ban on the industry was introduced in 1978 after a major campaign by conservationists. Canadians kill about 600 narwhals per year. They kill 100 belugas per year in

14518-407: Was estimated to be 75–80 years of age. The common name of the whale comes from the gray patches and white mottling on its dark skin. Gray whales were once called devil fish because of their fighting behavior when hunted. The gray whale is the sole living species in the genus Eschrichtius . It is the sole living genus in the family Eschrichtiidae , however some recent studies classify it as

14640-552: Was received for carved vertebrae and teeth of female narwhals. The Whale and Dolphin Conservation says: "Canada has pursued a policy of marine mammal management which appears to be more to do with political expediency rather than conservation." Canada left the IWC in 1982, and the only IWC-regulated species currently harvested by the Canadian Inuit is the bowhead whale. As of 2004, the limit on bowhead whale hunting allows for

14762-522: Was spurred in the 19th century by the increase in demand for whale oil , sometimes known as "train oil", and in the 20th century by a demand for margarine and later whale meat . The primary species hunted are minke whales , belugas , narwhals , and pilot whales , which are some of the smallest species of whales. There are also smaller numbers killed of gray whales , sei whales , fin whales , bowhead whales , Bryde's whales , sperm whales and humpback whales . Recent scientific surveys estimate

14884-400: Was undertaken with ships either going from Germany to Iceland or from the newly established German colonies to African waters. These attempts never were commercially successful and quickly given up. Only in the 1930s could Germany—with mainly Norwegian personnel—re-establish a large and successful whaling industry. More than 15,000 whales were caught between 1930 and 1939. With the beginning of

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