Soviet Illegal Whaling: The Devil and the Details

In 1948, the U.S.S.R. began a global campaign of illegal whaling that lasted for three decades and, together with the poorly managed “legal” whaling of other nations, seriously depleted whale populations. Although the general story of this whaling has been told and the catch record largely corrected for the Southern Hemisphere, major gaps remain in the North Pacific. Furthermore, little attention has been paid to the details of this system or its economic context. Using interviews with former Soviet whalers and biologists as well as previously unavailable reports and other material in Russian, our objective is to describe how the Soviet whaling industry was structured and how it worked, from the largest scale of state industrial planning down to the daily details of the ways in which whales were caught and processed, and how data sent to the Bureau of International Whaling Statistics were falsified. Soviet whaling began with the factory ship Aleut in 1933, but by 1963 the industry had a truly global reach, with seven factory fleets (some very large). Catches were driven by a state planning system that set annual production targets. The system gave bonuses and honors only when these were met or exceeded, and it frequently increased the following year’s targets to match the previous year’s production; scientific estimates of the sustainability of the resource were largely ignored. Inevitably, this system led to whale populations being rapidly reduced. Furthermore, productivity was measured in gross output (weights of whales caught), regardless of whether carcasses were sound or rotten, or whether much of the animal was unutilized. Whaling fleets employed numerous people, including women (in one case as the captain of a catcher boat). Because of relatively high salaries and the potential for bonuses, positions in the whaling industry were much sought-after. Catching and processing of whales was highly mechanized and became increasingly efficient as the industry gained more experience. In a single day, the largest factory ships could process up to 200 small sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus; 100 humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae; or 30–35 pygmy blue whales, Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda. However, processing of many animals involved nothing more than stripping the carcass of blubber and then discarding the rest. Until 1952, the main product was whale oil; only later was baleen whale meat regularly utilized. Falsified data on catches were routinely submitted to the Bureau of International Whaling Statistics, but the true catch and biological data were preserved for research and administrative purposes. National inspectors were present at most times, but, with occasional exceptions, they worked primarily to assist fulfillment of plan targets and routinely ignored the illegal nature of many catches. In all, during 40 years of whaling in the Antarctic, the U.S.S.R. reported 185,778 whales taken but at least 338,336 were actually killed. Data for the North Pacific are currently incomplete, but from provisional data we estimate that at least 30,000 whales were killed illegally in this ocean. Overall, we judge that, worldwide, the U.S.S.R. killed approximately 180,000 whales illegally and caused a number of population crashes. Finally, we note that Soviet illegal catches continued after 1972 despite the presence of international observers on factory fleets

Survival Estimates of Western Gray Whales \u3ci\u3eEschrichtius robustus\u3c/i\u3e Incorporating Individual Heterogeneity and Temporary Emigration

Gray whales Eschrichtius robustus exist as a 2 geographically and genetically distinct populations in the eastern and western North Pacific. Subjected to intensive commercial whaling during the 19th and 20th centuries, the western population presently numbers approximately 100 individuals and is regarded as one of the most endangered baleen whale populations in the world

Survival Estimates of Western Gray Whales \u3ci\u3eEschrichtius robustus\u3c/i\u3e Incorporating Individual Heterogeneity and Temporary Emigration

Gray whales Eschrichtius robustus exist as a 2 geographically and genetically distinct populations in the eastern and western North Pacific. Subjected to intensive commercial whaling during the 19th and 20th centuries, the western population presently numbers approximately 100 individuals and is regarded as one of the most endangered baleen whale populations in the world

Scientific Reports of Soviet Whaling Expeditions in the North Pacific, 1955-1978

The translated and annotated materials in this volume constitute a collection of 18 formerly secret internal reports written by Soviet scientists working aboard whaling factory ships in the North Pacific. The reports cover the period from 1955 to 1978. During most of this time, the USSR was engaged in a massive campaign of illegal whaling worldwide; these illegal catches continued until introduction of the International Whaling Commission’s International Observer Scheme in 1972. The reports were copied from the archives of the Pacific Research and Fisheries Center (TINRO) in Vladivostok by Alfred A. Berzin, the former director of TINRO’s marine mammal program. The reports were all separately produced; the represent the introductory and summary sections of much larger annual reports that are probably no longer available. The authors were all scientists who worked at different times with the whaling fleets concerned; most were affiliated with TINRO. The reports document dramatic declines in abundance, disappearances of whales from previously populous feeding and breeding areas, and a continual decline in the average size and age of animals in the catch as the over-exploitation reached critical levels. Also recorded are the repeated warnings of the reports’ authors that the catch levels could not be sustained without severe damage to (or extirpation of) the populations concerned. However, it is apparent that all such warnings were routinely ignored by the Soviet authorities in their quest to meet high production targets

Emptying the oceans: a summary of industrial whaling catches in the 20th century

Late 19th century technological advances for capturing whales, when combined with the expansion of processing capabilities in the early 20th century, created an industry that could catch and quickly render virtually any whale in any ocean. Here, using the current International Whaling Commission (IWC) database and other sources, we provide the fi rst accounting of the total global catch by industrial whaling operations in the 20th century. In sum, we estimate that nearly 2.9 million large whales were killed and processed during the period 1900–99. Of this total, 276,442 were killed in the North Atlantic, 563,696 in the North Pacifi c, and 2,053,956 in the Southern Hemisphere. The years 1925–39 in the Southern Hemisphere and 1946–75 in both hemispheres saw the highest totals of whales killed. For the entire 20th century, the largest catches were of fi n, Balaenoptera physalus, and sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus, with 874,068 and 761,523 taken, respectively; these comprised more than half the total of all large whales taken. As noted in other publications, when one species began to decline, another was sought and hunted to take its place. In addition to reported catches, it is now known that the USSR conducted illegal whaling for more than 30 years. The true Soviet catch totals for the Southern Hemisphere were corrected some years ago, and a more recent assessment of the actual number of whales killed by Soviet factory fl eet ships in the North Pacifi c between 1948 and 1979 has provided us with more accurate numbers with which to calculate the overall global catch. The estimate for the total global catch by the USSR is 534,204 whales, of which 178,811 were not reported to the IWC

Influence of seismic surveys on western gray whales off Sakhalin Island, Russia in 2001

Western gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) aggregate off the northeastern coast of Sakhalin Island, Russia during summer-autumn to feed on benthic and near-benthic prey. During summer 2001, 3D seismic surveys were conducted during a six-week period in known gray whale foraging areas off Sakhalin Island. To test the hypothesis that the distribution of gray whales on the feeding ground would shift away from nearby seismic surveying, we examined the number of whales and number of pods (dependent variables) sighted during systematic scans in relation to three independent variables (i.e. preseismic, seismic, post-seismic). Results showed the main effect of condition was significant, with both the number of whales and the number of pods during pre- and post-seismic conditions significantly differing from the seismic condition. Although the relationship between the seismic survey operation period and the observed change in distribution of whales is only a correlation at this time, we strongly believe that it warrants an appropriate management response. The western gray whale population is critically endangered and depends on the northeastern Sakhalin Island feeding ground for the majority of its annual food intake. Disruption of feeding in preferred areas is a biologically significant event that could have major negative effects on individual whales, their reproductive success, and thus the population as a whole

Seasonal and annual variation in body condition of western gray whales off northeastern Sakhalin Island, Russia

The western gray whale population (Eschrichtius robustus) is critically endangered and its potential for recovery is uncertain. Along with other natural and anthropogenic threats, western gray whales are susceptible to nutritional stress, known from regular observations of individual whales in compromised body condition. Thus, the ability to visually quantify the relative body condition of free-ranging western gray whales and evaluate how this condition varies seasonally and annually is needed. A photo-identification study of western gray whales on their feeding ground off the northeastern coast of Sakhalin Island, Russia, produced a large dataset of digital, film, and video images of 150 identified individuals from 1994 to 2005. These images were utilized to visually assess the body condition (i.e., good, fair, poor) of western gray whales by evaluating the relative amount of subcutaneous fat in three body regions presumed to reflect reductions in body condition. Multinomial logistic regression for ordinal responses was used to evaluate the effects of year, month, whale class, and sex on the body condition of western gray whales. Although the correlation between observations of individual whales has not yet been accounted for, significant findings of the analysis indicate that: 1) the body condition of whales varied annually and seasonally; 2) the body condition of whales improved as each feeding season progressed; and 3) lactating females were in relatively poorer body condition nursing calves in comparatively better body condition. Additional work is needed to refine the statistical analysis. Investigating the causes and consequences of compromised body condition in western gray whales is important for understanding the health and viability of this population

Catches of Humpback Whales, \u3ci\u3eMegaptera novaeangliae\u3c/i\u3e, by the Soviet Union and Other Nations in the Southern Ocean, 1947–1973

The great whales of the Southern Ocean were extensively exploited by modern whaling methods, with the first catches made in the Falkland Islands Dependencies region of IWC Management Area II in 1904 (Tønnesson and Johnsen, 1982; Hart, 2006). Exploitation went through several phases. Populations of humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, and blue whales, Balaenoptera musculus, around South Georgia crashed around the time of World War I, and further exploitation occurred in other regions into the 1930’s. There was a hiatus in whaling during World War II, but large-scale catches resumed in Antarctic waters after 1945

Gray Whales off Sakhalin Island, Russia: June – September 2001: A Joint U.S. – Russia Scientific Investigation

Numerous species of marine mammals inhabit the Sea of Okhotsk. Two of the most endangered populations of large whales in the world; the Okhotsk Sea bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) and the western North Pacific (Okhotsk-Korean) gray whale are known to occur in this sea (Brownell et al., 1997; Clapham et al., 1999). Concerns regarding the status of these whale populations have been intensified by the onset of offshore oil and gas development programs in Okhotsk waters. Anthropogenic activities related to oil and gas exploration off the northeastern Sakhalin Island shelf include geophysical seismic surveying, drilling and production operations, waterborne discharges of a variety of materials, seafloor dredging, and vessel/aircraft traffic. These activities pose potential threats to the northeastern Sakhalin marine ecosystem and may impact the critically endangered western gray whale population that annually feeds there (Brownell and Yablokov, 2001; Weller et al., 2002a, 2002c). However, properly conducted biological monitoring can provide the requisite information needed to help prevent significant anthropogenic impacts, and in some cases, such as development of Habitat Conservation Plans (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1998), assist with mitigating unavoidable ecosystem impacts to acceptable levels. Studies in the U.S. and Canadian arctic or near-arctic, on bowhead whales, white whales (Delphinapterus leucas), and gray whales have demonstrated that knowledge of habitat use and behavioral reactions can help to plan industrial activities in a fashion that allows animals and human development to coexist (summaries in Würsig, 1990; Richardson and Würsig, 1995, 1997). Therefore, it has been recommended by the Russian and U.S. governments that biological investigations of potential industry-related ecosystem impacts off the coast of Sakhalin Island and elsewhere in Russia be conducted concurrent to oil and gas development projects (Anonymous, 1997)

Western Gray Whales off Sakhalin Island, Russia: A Joint Russia-U.S. Scientific Investigation July-September 2003

Research on the western gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) population summering off northeastern Sakhalin Island, Russia, has been ongoing since 1995. This collaborative Russia-U.S. research program has produced important new information on the present day conservation status of this critically endangered population. This report reviews recent findings from 2003 research activities and combines such with data from previous years, in some cases ranging back to 1994. Photo-identification research conducted off Sakhalin Island in 2003 resulted in the identification of 75 whales, including 11 calves and two previously unidentified non-calves. When combined with data from 1994-2002, a catalog of 131 photo-identified individuals has been compiled. The population size is estimated to be approximately 100 individuals and non-calf and calf survival rates are 0.95 and 0.70, respectively. Of the 131 whales photo-identified, 108 (82.4%) have now been biopsy sampled. From genetic analysis of samples collected through 2002, an overall male biased sex ratio of 59.1% males and 40.9% females was determined. The sex ratio for calves was 68.0% male and 32.0% female. Previous genetic research on the western gray whale population documented clear genetic differentiation from the eastern population on the basis of mitochondrial DNA haplotype frequencies. Nuclear DNA markers used to measure the differentiation and relative levels of genetic diversity in the nuclear genome between the western and eastern populations confirm the earlier conclusion (based on mtDNA) that the two populations are genetically distinct and further suggests negligible gene flow of either sex between populations. A minimum of 23 reproductive females has been observed since 1995 and their most common (74.4%) calving interval is three or more years. Three whales were recorded as skinny” in 2003, a total number lower than recorded in previous years. In addition to the clear biological difficulties that western gray whales are facing, the recent onset of large-scale oil and gas development programs near their summer feeding ground pose new threats to the future survival of the population