TROUBLED WATERS - Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society

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A REVIEW OF THE WELFARE IMPLICATIONS OF MODERN WHALING ACTIVITIES
recorded as dying instantaneously (Anon 2003d). It should also be noted however, that data were
only provided for 131 West Greenland minke whales out of 139 hunted, therefore these TTD and
IDR data are incomplete.
Struck and lost rates are high in Greenland’s ASW hunts. Between 1990 and 2002, West Greenland
minke whales were struck and lost in 11 out of 13 years, with an average SLR of 2.4 per cent per
year. In contrast, East Greenland minke whales were only struck and lost in three out of 13 years, but
the rates were high on each occasion: three out of eight whales in 1992 (37.5 per cent) 31 ; three out of
14 in 1997 (21.4 per cent) and three out of 17 in 2001 (17.6%) 32 . Greenland’s SLR for fin whales is
also particularly poor in some years, but zero in others. In fact, the SLR for the East Greenland
minke and fin whale hunts is highest in the same years, which suggests that a common factor, such as
bad weather, may be to blame.
Despite longer TTDs and higher SLRs sustained by minke whales in Greenland’s rifle hunts, the use
of rifles appears to be increasing. In West Greenland, the rifle quota was set at 50 Minke whales for
2003, but in April was increased to 55 Minke whales with possible adjustment to 57 in September 33 .
The number of skiffs participating in Greenland’s collective hunts has also increased in recent years;
from 506 reported for 1998 to 630 reported for 2000 and 2001.
Greenland’s use of a 30.06 calibre (7.62mm) rifle on minke whales has been a subject of concern at
the IWC, with expert opinion expressed for several years that it may not be sufficiently powerful to
kill this species swiftly (see chapter 10). Norway’s chief whale welfare expert commented to the
IWC’s 1999 Workshop on Whale Killing Methods that he had seen whales shot by 7.62mm pointed
bullets that did not penetrate the skull, but might only have caused concussion. He stated that he did
not recommend the use of 7.62mm bullets and that 9.3mm rifles are used in Norway as the
secondary killing method for the same species (Anon 1999). Despite this advice, and the
recommendation of Greenland’s National Association of Hunters that a .375 calibre rifle is used,
Greenland tells the IWC that use of a higher calibre rifle would be too expensive to implement.
St Vincent humpback hunt
St Vincent has not provided any data to the IWC in recent years on methods and vessels used, times
to death, instantaneous death rates or struck and lost rates.
According to various reports, humpback whales are secured using a cold harpoon thrown by hand
from a boat and are brought alongside the vessel. Then an 8-foot lance is “repeatedly thrown in
attempts to puncture the whale’s heart or lungs” (Ward 1999). Sometimes the whale is finally killed by a
‘bomb lance’- an exploding projectile discharged from a shoulder gun. In some instances, however, it
appears that the bomb lance is administered at the same time as the initial cold harpoon. A final
killing method, which may be applied in some extreme cases, is a projectile from a 40-pound bronze
shoulder gun or ‘bomb gun’. Females are traditionally hunted, with whalers targeting calves first in
order to lure their mother to the boat.
In light of developing understanding of the dying process in cetaceans and their adaptation to low
levels of oxygen, it is of particular concern that the objective in this hunt is to pierce the lungs or the
heart of the whale, rather than to aim for a lethal shot to the brain.