What is Greenpeace’s position on whaling?

Greenpeace opposes any human activity which is harmful to populations of whales. Therefore, Greenpeace opposes

1.    All commercial whaling world-wide under whatever name and under all circumstances.
2.    The taking of any whales from endangered, threatened, or seriously reduced populations or from populations whose status is unknown or where it is possible such takes may have an adverse effect.
3.    The killing of whales in the name of protecting fisheries or mariculture operations
4.    Any human activities which harm or may threaten the habitats and health of whale populations

And supports
5.    The modification or the abolition of those fishing methods and practices which take whales incidentally on intentionally to a fishery.

Can whales be sustainably managed?

Whales are referred to by biologists as ‘K strategists’, meaning they have small numbers of young, each one of which has a fairly good chance of survival. Most fish are ’R strategists’; they have very large numbers of young, each with a fairly low chance of survival. R strategists can recover quickly from overexploitation provided that their spawning grounds remain intact. K strategists cannot. The fact that many fish populations world wide are overexploited demonstrates that humans have not yet mastered the art of managing r strategists. We should not even be attempting to manage the much more difficult K strategists until we have demonstrated that we can successfully manage most fish species

What does “commercial whaling” mean?

It means killing of whales for sale in the marketplace, as distinct from killing of whales to feed the whaler or his immediate relatives. We are not concerned about the commercial element because we have a problem with commercial trade per se, we are concerned because trade in slow growing species has been demonstrated to lead to their depletion, even extinction.

Why do we need “Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary”?

The Southern Ocean has been very heavily impacted by commercial whaling. Compared to numbers in 1904, when whaling began, there is about 1% of the blue whale population remaining.  For the  fin whales, there are under 5% remaining (possibly as low as 2.5%) and for humpback whales somewhere between 8 and 17% remaining.

Rough estimates of initial abundance and current in the Southern Hemisphere:

Species                Initial population     Current population

Blue Whale              200,000             1,200 - 3,000
Fin Whale                350,000            9,000 - 15,000
Sei Whale               150,000            10,000 -12,000
Humpback Whale       120,000            10,000 - 20,000
Minke Whale           Unknown            No agreed estimate

What is special about Southren Ocean?

Around 80% of the world’s whales either live in or migrate to the Southern Ocean each year in order to feed. Keeping this region free of whaling is therefore key to restoring the abundance of whale populations not only in the Southern Ocean, but in all of our oceans.

The waters of the Southern Ocean teem with life. It is home to around twenty species of whales and dolphins and six types of seal. 120 species of fish live there and they have evolved to avoid freezing in the icy Antarctic waters. Many seabirds live in the region, including 18 of the 21 kinds of albatross. It is also home to the smallest of ocean life – plankton.

Microscopic plankton is eaten by krill, and together they form the basis of the Antarctic food chain. Krill is the staple diet of many of the Southern Ocean’s seabirds, fish and mammals. Krill swarms can contain up to 30,000 creatures per cubic metre.

The Southern Ocean is protected by a number of international treaties: a ban on commercial whaling under the International Whaling Commission; a limit to sealing under the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals; and regulations on fishing under the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. However, these conventions are poorly policed and routinely breached.

Why do you accept the aboriginal subsistence whaling?

We do not oppose aboriginal subsistence whaling because it is carried out in remote areas to provide food for the whaler’s own family and immediate neighbors in areas where other foods are difficult or impossible to obtain.  In many cases this whaling has been carried on for hundreds, even thousands, of years without depleting populations, unlike commercial whaling which depletes populations within tens of years.