THE FUTURE OF WHALES AND WHALING 393 



at least as good a chance of surviving as man, unless, of course, man 

 eradicates them first, as, indeed, he has done with so many other species. 

 Now while this danger is by no means imaginary, it is far smaller than is 

 generally believed. True, Greenland Whales and Biscayan Right Whales 

 have been greatly reduced in number by intensive hunts in past centuries, 

 but they have by no means disappeared, and protective measures since 

 1929 have probably enabled the population to increase once again. 



In the Antarctic, the danger of eradicating whales is definitely smaller 

 than it is in the Arctic, not only because the available space is larger (the 

 sea accounts for 90 per cent of the area between 50° S. and 65° S., and only 

 for 39 per cent of the area between 50° N. and 65° N.), but also because 

 expeditions to the Antarctic are much more costly and run well into six 

 figures. Obviously, expeditions to the Antarctic can only pay if the catch 

 is very large. A big reduction of the whale population would thus auto- 

 matically curb the industry. Seeing that some 1,500 Blue Whales, 25,000 

 Fin Whales, and 1,250 Humpback Whales were still caught during each 

 of the past few seasons, this danger of extinction is surely remote, and this 

 fact is also borne out by the countless observations made by mercantile 

 marine and navy personnel all over the world. 



On the other hand, it might be possible to keep the Antarctic industry 

 going on, say. Fin Whales, while eradicating Blue Whales or Humpbacks, 

 since something of the kind has, in fact, happened with other mammals. 

 Now a critical reduction of the Humpback stock would have serious 

 economic repercussions, since a great many tropical and sub-tropical 

 whaling stations (i.e. in Gaboon and Australia) catch few other whales. 

 However, ever since the pelagic catch of Humpbacks has been restricted 

 to a four-day season, it seems that there has been an increase in their 

 population. The absolute protection of Grey Whales in the Northern 

 Pacific has had a similar effect, and Gilmore (i960) estimates that while 

 the Grey Whale population off the American coast was reduced from 

 25,000 to 200 during 1840- 1938, their number had grown to 6,000 by 

 i960. We have seen (p. 389) that Humpbacks and Grey Whales have an 

 exceptionally small interval between successive births, and can therefore 

 increase more rapidly than, say, Blue or Fin Whales. Sperm Whales, too, 

 are in no great danger of extinction, since the official size limit of thirty- 

 eight feet spares enough of the cows to keep the population at its present 

 level. 



In the case of Blue Whales, we have greater cause for anxiety. The time 

 seems ripe for their total protection in the North Atlantic, and in Norway 

 they have, in fact, been spared for the past few years. In the N. Pacific, 

 however, the situation looks somewhat better, since the nations directly 

 concerned, i.e. Japan and Russia, do not seem to be too worried, and we 



