Despite laws against hunting and killing whales, most of their deaths since 1970 are human caused. No.1 Killer? Fishing nets. — Click to Tweet.
The brutal days of whale hunting are over, and they have been since the Moby Dick tales of the 1800’s, or so it seemed. But surprising new data suggests that us humans continue to torment these underwater giants.
One particular study looked at 1,762 whale deaths, all of which occurred in the northwest Atlantic Ocean sometime during the last 40 years. The documented deaths occurred in 8 different species of large whales, including the fin whale, which is both endangered and also the second-largest mammal in the world.
Scientists looked at these whales to determine their causes of death, and were able to conclusively state the cause of death for 750 of the cases. Of these 750 cases, over 67% of the fatalities were human related.
How Are We Killing The Whales?
Getting ensnared in fishing gear was the most common type of death, killing 323 whales from 1970 to 2009. Vessel strikes were another deadly threat, taking 171 more whale lives. The other 248 whales died from natural causes, such as stranding or infection.
How Are We Trying Not To?
After 2003, there was a rise in legislative efforts to put a stop to human-caused whale deaths.
One such regulatory effort was the Ship Strike Rule, which restricted certain shipping routes and speeds. The aim was to reduce the overall number of whale strikes, but researchers have seen no significant improvements as a result.
The study documenting these whale deaths was led by Julie van der Hoop of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. Hopefully, leading whale researchers will not only document these deaths, but find a way to reduce them in the near future.
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