California
blue whales, once nearly extinct, back at historical levels
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[September 06, 2014]
By Dan Whitcomb
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California blue
whales, the largest animals on Earth once driven to near extinction by
whaling, have made a remarkable comeback to near historic, 19th-century
levels, according to a University of Washington study released on
Friday.
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The recovery makes California blue whales - which study authors
say now number about 2,200, or 97 percent of historical levels - the
only population of blue whales known to have recovered from whaling.
"The recovery of California blue whales from whaling demonstrates
the ability of blue whale populations to rebuild under careful
management and conservation measures," said Cole Monnahan, a
University of Washington doctoral student and lead author of the
study.
Despite the comeback, the whales - which as adults can reach nearly
100 feet (30 meters) in length and weigh 190 tons (172 tonnes),
twice as much as the largest known dinosaur - are still being struck
by ships off the California coast at numbers above allowable U.S.
limits, according to the study's authors
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Conservation groups say at least 11 blue whales are struck each year
along the U.S. West Coast, nearly four times the "potential
biological removal" level of 3.1 permitted under the U.S. Marine
Mammal Protection Act.
"Even accepting our results that the current level of ship strikes
is not going to cause overall population declines, there is still
going to be ongoing concern that we don't want these whales killed
by ships," University of Washington assistant professor of aquatic
and fishery sciences Tim Branch said.
According to the University of Washington paper and a separate paper
published earlier this year, some 3,400 blue whales were caught
between 1905 and 1971, a number determined in part by examining
once-secret Russian whaling archives.
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The study's authors say that the population of California blue
whales is now growing more slowly, partly due to ship strikes and
also because numbers are reaching the habitat limit.
"Our findings aren't meant to deprive California blue whales of
protections that they need going forward," Monnahan said.
"California blue whales are recovering because we took actions to
stop catches and start monitoring. If we hadn't, the population
might have been pushed to near extinction – an unfortunate fate
suffered by other blue whale populations," he said. "It's a
conservation success story."
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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