132 



Doctor, "we thank you. 



Mr. DiNGELL. Our last witness this morning is Dr. Theodore Walker, 

 research biologist for the Scripi>s Institution of Oceanography, La 

 Jolla, Calif. 



Will you please identify yourself fully for the purposes of the 

 record ? 



< 



STATEMENT OF THEODORE J. WALKER, PH. D., RESEARCH BIOL- J 

 OGIST (RETIRED), SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY, 

 LA JOLLA, CALIF. 



Dr. Walker. My name is Theodore J. Walker. From 1948-69, I 

 served as Research Oceanographer, Scripps Institution of Oceanog- 

 raphy, La Jolle, Calif. Since that time, I have produced a film for 

 the National Parks Service documenting gray whale behavior; writ- 

 ten the article on the gray whale for the National Geographic, March 

 1971 ; participated in two Jacques Cousteau specials, "The Desert 

 Wliale" and "The Elephant Seal," and have just completed "Alaska- 

 Wilderness Lake" which will be shown on national television this fall. 



The scientific and popular writing on whales has created such an 

 abundance of fact and folklore that it becomes very difficult to jus- 

 tify any point of view with finality. However, I would like to go on 

 record that we stop killing all whales and, in fact, virtually all marine 

 mammals. 



My reasons follows : It is my feeling that we should leave the natural 

 world in as good condition as we found it. 



It is evident that in the 20th century, whaling has become so ef- 

 ficient that all whales will reach near extinction in a few more years. 

 Population experts will quibble over when this will happen. It is more 

 important to stop short of catastrophe. 



The yields which a mai^ine mammal can provide and still meet the 

 vicissitudes of its environment are not known. It is evident that man's 

 exploitation of the renewable marine resources of the sea has proceeded J 

 by trial and error. The whaling companies have invested a small per- * 

 centage of their profits and made available their facilities to whaling 

 scientists who were and are charged with judging what the catch 

 should be. 



These scientists owe their livelihood to the whaling companies, and 

 it should not be embarrassing to them to acknowledge their bias to- 

 ward whaling. They have achieved a tremendous body of whaling 

 statistics which is derived primarily from measurements and observa- 

 tions of whale carcasses. 



Virtually all of our know^ledge of the biology of whales has been 

 derived by these scientists; however, these studies do not encompass 

 the living whale. Such studies would provide much greater apprecia- 

 tion of the animal and its problems engendered in its daily living. 



I have, myself, pioneered in such studies on the California gray 

 whale and, although my findings are far from completely elucidating 

 the full reality of the gray whale, I find much contradiction with the 

 findings of the whaling scientists who work in whaling stations. 



In the evolution of marine mammals into the sea, species have 

 evolved which stand at the peak of the food chains. 



