Humpback Whales In Marine Mammal Research

Beginning from the 17th century until the early 20th century, humpback whales were commercially hunted for meat, oil, and clothing decreasing their population substantially to the point of near extinction. These mammals were exploited greatly in the North Pacific region but have shown a substantial increase in population size. This increase in population size is a direct result from The International Whaling Commission banning commercial hunting of humpback whales in the North Pacific starting in 1966, and in 2005 when humpback whales were placed under the Species At Risk Act. The Species At Risk Act (SARA), provides protection and increased recovery efforts of species at risk of becoming endangered or extinct. Only recently, humpback whales

Approximately only one thousand two hundred whales remained before the end of commercial whaling. The newly estimated population today is twenty-one thousand humpback whales. Andrew Trites, a professor and director of the Marine Mammal Research Unit in the UBC Fisheries Centre, is a member of COSEWIC’s (Committee on the Status of Wildlife in Canada) Marine Mammal Specialist Subcommittee. He believes that the humpback whale downgrade is a very positive decision since the population of humpback whales in increasing at around four percent a year. Trites describes this population growth as “phenomenally fast.” Canadian wildlife statuses are determined by a group of experts in COSEWIC. They study population trends and extinction probabilities to place a status on a certain species. Data that these experts have collected suggests that humpback whales should no longer be considered threatened species but rather species of special concern. Past history of these whales show how devastating whaling was to the humpback whale population, but it also shows how much the population has taken a turn for the better since the end of whaling, “We estimate there were about 4,000 humpback whales in B.C. in 1905—almost twice the size of the current population. The population was severely depleted by commercial whaling…” (Andrew Trites, 2014). Andrew Trites believes that the future for these whales on the B.C. coast

This relieves pressure from the government because they no longer have to worry about designating critical habitats to conserve the population and recovery of this species. This poses a critical danger to many individual habitats, for instance, areas near Kitimat, B.C. are used by humpback whales as a feeding ground for their young calves during the spring and summer months. This is the exact area where the government proposes to build the western end of the Northern Gateway pipeline. PH.D professor Andrea Olive speaks out against the decision to strip humpback whales of the protection of SARA during an interview on CBC radio. Olive believes this downgrade is “… a way to clear an obstacle for a project that is only going to threaten the status of the species.” She also explains that the federal governments obligations to protect the population of humpbacks are miniscule compared to what they once were. “To say it bluntly it means that yesterday it was illegal to kill a whale or it was illegal to harm its habitat and today it’s not…” (Andrea Olive, 2014). This is disturbing news for the safety of the humpback whale population. Executive director of the environmental group Living Oceans Society, Karen Wristen, shares similar views and opinions mentioned by Andrea Olive. Wristen says that removing SARA protection from whales at