240 WHALES AND DOLPHINS 



26,000 whales respectively, and by 1934-35 the number had 

 exceeded 30,000. 



The world production of oil for 1934-35 and the summer of 

 1935 — it is necessary to express the annual figures in this way 

 as the Antarctic season is partly in two calendar years — was 

 2,691,283 barrels, of which 2,453,999, or 91% of the total, was 

 from the Antarctic. 



A glance at the statistical table in the ' Norwegian Whaling 

 Gazette ' for August, 1936, gives an idea of the composition 

 of the Antarctic catch. There were taken 16,500 Blue Whales, 

 12,500 Finners, 1965 Humpbacks, 266 Sei, and 577 Sperm 

 Whales. 



In addition, however, to the whaling carried on in the 

 Antarctic there are at the present time other whaling stations 

 throughout the world, on the coast of Africa, North- Western 

 Europe, the western coasts of North and South America, and 

 in Kamchatka, Japan and Korea, but the insignificance of all 

 these compared with the immensity of the Antarctic industry 

 is indicated by the production figures just quoted. 



It is difficult to say how long the Antarctic will continue to 

 be so abundantly productive, but judging by what has happened 

 in other whaling grounds and to other species of whales we 

 should anticipate a very limited duration of profitable fishing. 

 It is true that the area of supply is immensely greater than, 

 for instance, that from which the Greenland Right Whales 

 were derived, but if the area is greater the methods of hunting 

 are vastly more efficient now than in the days of the Greenland 

 fishery. Whaling interests admit the necessity for control 

 and certain restrictions have already been imposed. 



From 1935 the fishing period was shortened, and regulations 

 have been drafted prohibiting the taking of immature animals, 

 and encouraging the careful utilization of every whale carcase. 

 The problem is whether the stock of whales is being replaced 

 at a rate commensurate with its depletion. The Antarctic is 

 the last important haunt of these animals which can be 

 exploited, and whether we consider the question economically 

 or zoologically, the possibility of the stock being reduced below 

 the point where replenishment can take place should encourage 

 every person interested in whales or in whaling to strive for a 

 control of the industry and the formulation of policy far-sighted 



