TROUBLED WATERS - Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society

16 Summary of conclusionsModern day whaling activities give rise to serious animal welfare concerns. Is it likely, therefore, thathumane standards could ever be achieved during whaling operations? The evidence presented in thisreview strongly suggests that this is improbable.• The adaptations of cetaceans to the marine environment may have significant implications for theirwelfare during whaling operations. Adaptations for diving may make it difficult to determine whenthese animals are dead.• The current IWC criteria for determining death in cetaceans are inadequate.• In many cases, current killing methods are not adequately adapted for the species being killed.Differences between species may greatly increase the margin for error in killing methods and mayinfluence the time to death (TTD) and associated suffering.• The common use of secondary killing methods, such as the rifle, during whaling operations reflectsthe inefficiency of primary killing methods. There are currently no specific criteria for determiningwhen a secondary killing method should be applied.134A REVIEW OF THE WELFARE IMPLICATIONS OF MODERN WHALING ACTIVITIES• There are significant differences in the efficiency reported from different hunts and even the beststatistics indicate that at least 20 per cent of whales killed for commercial purposes do no dieinstantaneously. Furthermore, in a practical whaling situation, ‘instantaneously’ is likely to equateto at least 10 seconds after the harpoon strike.• Recent data show that, for commercial and scientific whale hunts, the average estimated time todeath is over two minutes.• Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling (ASW) presents some of the gravest welfare concerns, yet theCommission has been slow to address these issues. Times to death in ASW hunts of over an hourare not uncommon.• Struck and lost whales represent a significant welfare problem. Struck and lost cetaceans may suffersignificantly in both the short- and long-term as a result of exhaustion and their injuries.• Whalers attempting to achieve a fatal shot, either with a harpoon or rifle, often must do so atconsiderable range, and need to overcome poor visibility, rough sea states and vessel motion. Theaccuracy of the gunner (or marksmanship) will also impact on the ability to kill a cetacean swiftly.• The exertion imposed on whales during pursuit may fall outside the species’ adaptive range. Pursuitduring whaling activities has the potential to induce stress, which may manifest as a series of lethaland sub-lethal pathologies. The effects of pursuit may also be significant for cetaceans that arestruck and eventually killed as well as for those that evade capture.