As far as we know, Scarborough was never involved in the whaling industry, unlike Whitby. Whales are the largest animals on earth and play an important role in the marine environment. Warm-blooded and air breathing mammals, like us, whales are our allies in the fight against climate change. Their poo fertilises the ocean producing large blooms of microscopic algae that absorb enormous amounts of carbon dioxide.
For thousands of years whales had been hunted for their meat, blubber and bones. It was in the 20th century that they became hunted on a large commercial scale because of factory ships and explosive harpoons. 50,000 whales were killed yearly by 1930, which led to a rapid decline in whale numbers.
After years of high profile anti-whaling campaigns and public pressure by groups like Greenpeace, the International Whaling Commission’s (IWC) landmark conference in Brighton in 1982 decided there should be a pause in commercial whaling. Known as a whaling moratorium, the ban allowed some types of whales to recover their populations. For example, humpback whales have made a remarkable comeback. In the mid 1950s, only 450 remained. And now their population stands at around 25,000. Likewise, a recent sighting of 150 fin whales feeding have given scientists hope for whale recovery.
Breaching Humpback Whale in the Indian Ocean, Wild Coast, South Africa 2013 Ⓒ Reinhard Dirscherl / ullstein bild / Getty
But since its announcement, the success of the whaling ban has been at risk. Both Norway and Iceland’s governments objected to it and continued to hunt. Under the pretence of scientific research whaling continued in Japan too. In 2019, Japan’s government left the IWC and began commercial whaling as soon as it was no longer bound to the agreement.
1: A commercial whaling ship in 1957 © Getty
2: A whaler loads an explosive harpoon in 1957 © Graphic House Archive Photos / Getty
Greenpeace’s Save the Whales campaign shone a spotlight on the brutal and unnecessary hunting of whales. The campaign publicly showed images of whales being killed, staged demonstrations and used non-violent direct action to stop whaling.
As well as the moratorium, the IWC declared a Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. This was an area of 50 million square kilometres around Antarctica where all commercial whaling was banned. However, whaling for “scientific research” was allowed and the government of Japan continued to do so.
In 2008, Greenpeace investigated whistleblower claims that thousands of dollars worth of whale meat was stolen each year from Japan’s scientific whaling fleet. Officials from the government’s Institute of Cetacean Research in Japan and the fleet operators Kyodo Senpaku knew about the embezzlement but ignored it – even though it was the Japanese taxpayer who funded the expeditions.
Continued hunting is no longer the main threat that whales face today. Pollution, noise, fishing, shipping and habitat loss also put them under pressure. Now, the fate of our whales depends on protecting the oceans.
Worldwide, our oceans face threats from deep sea mining, plastics and climate change, which are growing bigger and more urgent each day. Whales need healthy oceans. And whales also help make our oceans work properly – they store carbon, recycle nutrients and mix layers of ocean while they travel. Our seas are weaker without whales. So we need to protect areas for whales to live, breed and thrive.
Governments are working on a Global Ocean Treaty. If they get it right, it’ll create a vast network of ocean sanctuaries, which could protect over a third of the world’s seas. This would make parts of our global seas off-limits to destructive industries – creating safe zones for whales and protecting our waters for all life on earth.
