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Oil Hunters Started Decimating Whale Populations as Early as 1800
Animals  (tags: animals, whales, oil, hunters, environment, endangered, extinction, humans, orcas, blue, sharks, thresher, porpoise, dolphin, new zealand, england, ocean, sea, fishing, science, investigation, research, study, discovery )

Tom
- 190 days ago - thaindian.com
One of several astonishing reconstructions of ocean life in olden days suggests that the ocean around New Zealand teemed with about 27,000 southern right whales, about 30 times as many as today, before oil hunters started to whaling in the early 1800s.
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Comments

stephanie l. (105)
Tuesday May 26, 2009, 3:27 am
it's sad what we do to these gentle creatures. i remeber when i was young my dad took me on a whale watching trip in glouster mass. the sun was setting and every where you looked around the boat there where humpback whales. it was breath taking to watch them.
 

mary f. (74)
Tuesday May 26, 2009, 4:50 am
ITS JUST SUCH A CRIME WHAT HAPPENS TO THESE BEAUTIFUL CREATURES
 

bernadettemp P. (74)
Tuesday May 26, 2009, 7:23 am
is what oil does to animals thank tom
 

Tierney G. (302)
Tuesday May 26, 2009, 8:17 am
These kind of stories are so sad. Why are we destroying this planet and her beautiful creatures?
Thanks Tom
 

Leigh B. (178)
Tuesday May 26, 2009, 11:27 am
Great story Tom, its time to start saving our mamals and oceans, thanks
 

Mandi T. (265)
Tuesday May 26, 2009, 2:24 pm
Even way back when huh~ What sadness -
TzTom
 

Dee C. (514)
Tuesday May 26, 2009, 6:41 pm
Even sadder that it continue today..
Thanks Tom..
Sadly noted..
 

sue w. (153)
Tuesday May 26, 2009, 7:05 pm
All in the name of oil. Greed runs deep round here.
 

Amy S. (71)
Tuesday May 26, 2009, 8:51 pm
and people wonder why our giant marine life is declining...so sad...thanks for the update Tom!
 

Sandra Martinho (35)
Wednesday May 27, 2009, 4:33 pm
sad!!!
 

Koo J. (92)
Thursday May 28, 2009, 2:05 am
It wasn't until 1982 that there was a moratorium on whaling.

U.S. whaling was big business in the 19th century. Whales were regarded as floating sources of oil. Whale oil was used for lighting lamps, lubricatiing machinery, ambergris was used for perfume, spermaceti for candles, whale bones for corsets, meat for food and fertilizer. The average American household would have contained whale products of some kind in the 19th century. Ironically, whale oil made the industrial revolution possible. It wasn't until the invention of oil wells in 1850 that whaling for oil began to decline, although whaling continued into the 20th century.

The numbers of southern right whales have never fully recovered, even though a ban on southern right whaling was put in place in 1937. Some illegal poaching of southern right whales still occurred in the 1950s and 1960s.

And today we know better, right? Unfortunately, animals still suffer because of human actions.
 

Past Member (0)
Thursday May 28, 2009, 3:34 pm
Very sad my dear! :( Thank you Tom!
 
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