133 



Various specializations have been evolved, which parallel the op- 

 erational needs of the navies; for example, underwater communica- 

 tions and underwater location. It is safe to say that man has much 

 to learn about these remarkable specializations. 



I would argue the preservation of the whale on an esthetic basis. 

 Whales have figured largely in the romance of the sea ; that is, Mel- 

 ville's "Moby Dick," Victor Sheffer's "Year of the Whale,]' et cetera. 



In the 20th century, man has taken much joy from seeing whales 

 lolling and blowing along the California, Oregon, Washington coast, 

 and whale watching is very much in vogue. 



Second, whales need to be preserv^ to maintain the normal eco- 

 logical relationships in which they figure prominently. 



Third, whales should be preserved for the mysteries which they 

 will afford new generations of scientists to unravel. 



Finally, when the whale populations have recovered to their orig- 

 inal levels, it would be possible to probe normal population fluctua- 

 tions which the environment places on them. Coupling this informa- 

 tion with the full knowledge of the daily and season stresses experi- 

 enced by whales, one should be able to establish a reasonable estimate 

 of the catch which the whale species could afford from year to year 

 instead of making a wild guess and having to wait for the population 

 to climb back to its optimum productive level- 



Turning now to an example, the California gray whale population 

 is presently restricted to a Califomian herd which calves primarily 

 in California. In the 1920's and before, the California gray whale also 

 calved off Korea. This population is now extinct. Examination of 

 whaling logs of the New England dealei-s, who first whaled the 

 California gray whale in 1846, finds a rather abrupt decline in the 

 overall population in a period of not more than 10 years, and by 1870, 

 the species was virtually extinct. 



Further studies of the efficacy of whaling in those days reveals the 

 intensity of whaling to be extremely low, probably not more than 

 one whale per day per boat and, in spit^ of this inefficient limited 

 catch, the whales became so reduced as to be unprofitable to whaling. 



Attempts by man in the 1920-34 period, employing the predecessors 

 of modem whaling fleets, brought whaling stocks into near extinction 

 by 1934. 



It is curious that the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries employs a 

 whaling scientist whose responsibility is to probe population levels 

 of whales exploited off central California by two whaling companies 

 whose products enter into pet food and fur-farm animals. It should 

 be stressed that the population sampling techniques are those standard 

 for the industry and are dependent on the operation of those whaling 

 companies. 



Ostensibly, the international whaling industry awaits the results 

 of their population analysis of the California gray whale which is 

 presently being harvested solely for this study. This brings me around 

 to my main complaint with the International Whaling Commission 

 and the population studies which they finance. 



I think the rapid decline and the bankruptcy of whaling companies 

 speaks for the inability of these people to harvest whales with a con- 

 tinued sustained yield. In fact, unless international pressure can be 



