TROUBLED WATERS - Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society

2
A REVIEW REVIEW OF THE WELFARE IMPLICATIONS IMPLICATIONS OF MODERN WHALING WHALING ACTIVITIES
1 Executive Summary
This review examines the welfare implications of the methods currently used to hunt cetaceans
(whales, dolphins and porpoises) for commercial, special permit and Aboriginal Subsistence
Whaling (ASW) purposes. The welfare implications are assessed and the question raised as to
whether whaling could be conducted in a reliably humane manner. The report calls on the
International Whaling Commission (IWC) to urgently address the severe welfare problems
attendant in modern whaling activities.
The welfare implications of modern whale killing methods
• The physiological adaptations of cetaceans to the marine environment have significant
implications for whale welfare during whaling operations. Adaptations for diving may make it
difficult to determine when these animals are dead. Their sheer mass, complex vascular systems and
specific anatomical features may also impede efforts to kill them swiftly and humanely.
• In general, current killing methods are not adequately adapted for the species being killed.
Morphological features such as size, blubber thickness, skeletal structure and location of vital organs
significantly influence the efficacy of a particular killing method. These differences may effect the
course of projectiles through the body, as they travel through different thicknesses of blubber and
muscle and encounter bone and vital organs at specific locations. Such factors may also vary
between individuals of the same species, according to age, sex and season. During whaling
operations, where accuracy is often poor, these specific characteristics may greatly increase the
margin for error and influence the time to death (TTD) and associated suffering.
• Lack of due consideration to species specific killing requirements may be a major contributory
factor in protracted times to death and may be a particular cause for concern where larger species,
such as fin and sperm whales, are killed using methods developed for the much smaller minke
species.
Commercial and special permit whaling
• The main killing method used during commercial and special permit whaling is the penthrite
grenade harpoon fired from a cannon mounted on the bow of a ship. The harpoon is intended to
penetrate about 30 cm (12 inches) into the minke whale before detonating. The aim is to kill the
animal through neurotrauma induced by the blast-generated pressure waves of the explosion.
However, if the first harpoon fails to kill the whale, then a second penthrite harpoon or a rifle
(minimum calibre 9.3mm) is used as a secondary killing method.
• Despite the similarity of the killing methods used, there are marked differences in reported
killing efficiency between Japan and Norway. According to Norwegian data, in 2002, 80.7 per
cent of minke whales were killed instantaneously. During the 2002/2003 Japanese minke whale
hunt in Antarctica, only 40.2 per cent of whales were recorded as killed instantaneously.
• Recent data show that, for commercial and scientific whale hunts, the average time to death is over
two minutes.