Too many whales, not enough food

Page 3

A top scientist at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) says there are too many whales for the ecosystem to currently support, and they will continue to starve unless their population is managed.

The scientist, who did not want his name printed because of the political volatility of the whaling issue, said the 150 gray whales that washed up on Pacific shores over the last year are only the tip of the iceberg.

"If 150 whales washed up on beaches, we figure it's pretty safe to say close to 1,000 have died of starvation considering that dead whales usually sink," he said. "People are so concerned about gray whales being hunted by Natives, and dolphins being caught in nets for no other reason than we think they are cute, intelligent beings. Well, sure they are, but really, what's the difference between humans harvesting them, and humans forcing them to starve to death?"

According to the scientist, everything from fish to plankton is harvested and managed. Because we fish for much of the same food eaten by marine mammals, we are starving them out while we claim to be protecting them.

"We manage every species in the ocean except these large marine mammals such as whales, dolphins and sea lions," he said. "So we allow their numbers to increase exponentially while we continue to harvest their food sources for our own. That really doesn't make much sense."

The latest population estimates report more than 26,000 gray whales and 10,000 humpback whales swimming off the west coast of North America. That's more gray whales than there ever have been before. And while their population continues to increase at an estimated five per cent per year, fisheries managers are still reluctant to open the stock to any type of controlled harvest simply because of a possible public backlash from environmental organizations.