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86-596: A man of the same name was sent on an expedition to the River Ob by the Muscovy Company in 1568. Seeing as how this name is not common, it is possible that Woodcock may have been a son or grandson of this namesake. In 1610, he served as mate aboard the Muscovy Company ship Amity (60 tons) on a sealing and exploratory voyage to Spitsbergen. In 1611, Purchas (1625) states that it was he who suggested to

172-610: A moratorium on commercial whaling of great whales beginning in the 1985–86 season. Since 1992, the IWC's Scientific Committee has requested that it be allowed to give quota proposals for some whale stocks, but this has so far been refused by the Plenary Committee. At the 2010 meeting in Morocco, representatives of the 88 member states discussed whether to lift the 24-year ban on commercial whaling. Japan, Norway and Iceland urged

258-475: A boat was pulled approximately 120 km away towards Timor (see Nantucket sleighride ), while in another case, the hunted whale capsized the boat and forced the fishermen to swim for 12 hours back to the shore. When the commercial whaling moratorium was introduced by the IWC in 1982, Japan lodged an official objection. However, in response to US threats to cut Japan's fishing quota in US territorial waters under

344-407: A circumvention of the moratorium, Iceland ceased whaling in 1989. Following the IWC's 1991 refusal to accept its Scientific Committee's recommendation to allow sustainable commercial whaling, Iceland left the IWC in 1992. Iceland rejoined the IWC in 2002 with a reservation to the moratorium. Iceland presented a feasibility study to the 2003 IWC meeting for catches in 2003 and 2004. The primary aim of

430-569: A few others the two business models exist in an uneasy tension. The live capture of cetaceans for display in aquaria (e.g., captive killer whales ) continues. Whaling began in prehistoric times in coastal waters. The earliest depictions of whaling are the Neolithic Bangudae Petroglyphs in Korea, which may date back to 6000 BC. These images are the earliest evidence for whaling. Although prehistoric hunting and gathering

516-574: A glacier on Mount Byelukha . The Ob itself is in Russia. Its tributaries extend into northern Kazakhstan , a western corner of China and a tiny upland parcel of the western tip of Mongolia, where the wider borders match the drainage basin almost precisely. The river splits into more than one arm after the large Irtysh flows into it at about 69° E. Originating in China, the Irtysh is the furthest source of

602-461: A group of local craftsmen clan called ata molã, and the fishermen will mourn the "death" of their ships for two months. These days, the Lamalerans use a motor engine to power their boats; however, their tradition dictates that once a whale has been caught, fishermen will have to row their boats and the whale back to the shore. The traditional practices made whaling a dangerous hunt. In one case,

688-671: A particularly important western river-port was Tyumen , located on the Tura , a tributary of the Tobol . Reached by an extension of the Yekaterinburg – Perm railway in 1885, and thus obtaining a rail link to the Kama and Volga rivers in the heart of Russia, Tyumen became an important railhead for some years until the railway extended further east. In the eastern reaches of the Ob basin, Tomsk on

774-660: A population of 103,000 minkes in the northeast Atlantic. With respect to the populations of Antarctic minke whales, as of January 2010, the IWC states that it is "unable to provide reliable estimates at the present time" and that a "major review is underway by the Scientific Committee." Whale oil is used little today, and modern whaling is primarily done for food: for pets, fur farms, sled dogs and humans, and for making carvings of tusks, teeth and vertebrae. Both meat and blubber ( muktuk ) are eaten from narwhals, belugas and bowheads. From commercially hunted minkes, meat

860-535: A successful whaling industry. German whaling ships in the mid to late 19th century would generally not be staffed with experienced sailors but rather with members of more wealthy farming communities, going for short trips to Scandinavia during the end of spring and beginning of summer, when their labor was not required on the fields. This kind of whaling was ineffective. Many journeys would not lead to any whales caught, instead seal- and polar bear skins were brought back to shore. Communities often paid more for equipping

946-521: A temporary ecosystem at the ocean floor. Despite rebounding whale numbers after the international ban on whaling, climate change and rising carbon levels continue to hinder the amount of carbon sequestered by whales. Whaling was a major maritime industry in Australia from 1791 until its final cessation in 1978. At least 45 whaling stations operated in Tasmania during the 19th century, and bay whaling

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1032-634: A year with his ship in the Persian Gulf , charting the Strait of Hormuz and adjacent areas for suitable anchorages. On 22 January (OS), while standing on the deck of the ship, Woodcock showed Della Valle what he believed to be a piece of unicorn horn (in fact a piece of the tusk of a narwhal ), which he had found in Greenland (Spitsbergen) in 1611. Woodcock boastfully claimed to have been the first Christian to name and discover this country of Greenland

1118-700: Is Novosibirsk , the largest city in Siberia, and the third-largest city in Russia. It is where the Trans-Siberian Railway crosses the river. The Gulf of Ob is the world's longest estuary . The internationally known name of the river is based on the Russian name Обь ( Obʹ , IPA: [opʲ] ). Possibly from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Hā́p- , "river, water" (compare Vedic Sanskrit áp- , Persian āb , Tajik ob , and Pashto obə , "water"). Katz (1990) proposes Komi ob 'river' as

1204-516: Is categorized as 'aboriginal subsistence hunters' by the IWC. The Lamalerans hunt for several species of whales but catching sperm whales are preferable, while other whales, such as baleen whales, are considered taboo to hunt. They caught five sperm whales in 1973; they averaged about 40 per year from the 1960s through the mid 1990s, 13 total from 2002 to 2006, 39 in 2007, an average of 20 per year 2008 through 2014, and caught 3 in 2015. Traditional Lamaleran whaling used wooden fishing boats built by

1290-627: Is eaten by humans or animals, and blubber is rendered down mostly to cheap industrial products such as animal feed or, in Iceland, as a fuel supplement for whaling ships. International cooperation on whaling regulation began in 1931 and culminated in the signing of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) in 1946. Its aim is to: provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible

1376-643: Is generally considered to have had little ecological impact, early whaling in the Arctic may have altered freshwater ecology. Early whaling affected the development of widely disparate cultures on different continents. The Basques were the first to catch whales commercially and dominated the trade for five centuries, spreading to the far corners of the North Atlantic and even reaching the South Atlantic . The development of modern whaling techniques

1462-400: Is reported that demand for whale meat decreased in that year. Lamalera, on the south coast of the island of Lembata , and Lamakera on neighbouring Solor , are the two remaining Indonesian whaling communities. The hunters obey religious taboos that ensure that they use every part of the animal. About half of the catch is kept in the village; the rest is bartered in local markets. In 1973,

1548-574: Is required to adequately track whale products. It was revealed in 1994 that the Soviet Union had been systematically undercounting its catch. For example, from 1948 to 1973, the Soviet Union caught 48,477 humpback whales rather than the 2,710 it officially reported to the IWC. On the basis of this new information, the IWC stated that it would have to rewrite its catch figures for the last 40 years. According to Ray Gambell, then-Secretary of

1634-469: Is sold through shops and supermarkets in northern communities where whale meat is a component of the traditional diet. Hunters in Hudson Bay rarely eat beluga meat. They give a little to dogs and leave the rest for wild animals. Other areas may dry the meat for later consumption by humans. An average of one or two vertebrae and one or two teeth per beluga or narwhal are carved and sold. One estimate of

1720-628: The Beaufort Sea , 300 in northern Quebec ( Nunavik ), and an unknown number in Nunavut . The total annual kill in Beaufort and Quebec areas varies between 300 and 400 belugas per year. Numbers are not available for Nunavut since 2003, when the Arviat area, with about half Nunavut's hunters, killed 200–300 belugas, though the authors say hunters resist giving complete numbers. Harvested meat

1806-596: The Beluga whale article, Indonesia's catches of sperm whales, and bycatch in Korea. Most of the whale species in the table are not considered endangered by the IUCN ("least concern" or "data deficient"). Only the sei whale is classified as "endangered", and the fin whale is classified as "vulnerable" by the IUCN. Key elements of the debate over whaling include sustainability, ownership, national sovereignty, cetacean intelligence , suffering during hunting, health risks,

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1892-753: The Irtysh forms the world's seventh-longest river system , at 5,410 kilometres (3,360 mi). The Ob forms at the confluence of the Biya and Katun which have their origins in the Altai Mountains . It is the westernmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean (the other two being the Yenisei and the Lena ). Its flow is north-westward, then northward. The main city on its banks

1978-597: The Muscovy Company that six Basque whalers from the town of St Jean de Luz , who had experience in the Terranova whale fishery, should be shipped the following season. Using his advice, the company sent these six whalers, as well as the Mary Margaret (150 tons), Steven Bennet , master, and the Elizabeth (60 tons), Jonas Poole , master, to Spitsbergen in 1611- the first voyage made to the island to hunt what

2064-833: The Nenets people as the Kolta or Kuay ; and to the Siberian Tatars as the Umar or Omass . The Ob forms 25 km (16 mi) southwest of Biysk in Altai Krai at the confluence of the Biya and Katun rivers. Both these streams have their origin in the Altai Mountains , which gradually give way to the Ob Plateau . The Biya has its sources in Lake Teletskoye and the 700 kilometres (430 mi) long Katun in

2150-576: The Second World War , German whaling was abandoned completely. In the early 1950s, Germany maintained one whaling vessel for testing purpose as it considered re-establishing a German whaling fleet, but abandoned these plans in 1956. The last remaining German whalers worked for Dutch vessels in the 1950s and 1960s. Iceland is one of a handful of countries which still host a (privately owned) whaling fleet. One company ( Hvalur hf. ) concentrates on hunting fin whales, largely for export to Japan, while

2236-566: The Tom functioned as an important terminus. Tyumen had its first steamboat in 1836, and steamboats have navigated the middle reaches of the Ob since 1845. In 1916, there were 49 steamers on the Ob; 10 on the Yenisei. In an attempt to extend the Ob navigable system even further, a system of canals , utilising the Ket , 900 km (560 mi) long in all, was built in the late 19th-century to connect

2322-656: The United Nations 's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) sent a whaling ship and a Norwegian whaler to modernize their hunt. This effort lasted three years and was not successful. According to the FAO report, the Lamalerans "have evolved a method of whaling which suits their natural resources, cultural tenets and style." Lamalerans say they returned the ship because they immediately caught five sperm whales, too many to butcher and eat without refrigeration. Since these communities only hunt whales for noncommercial purposes, it

2408-580: The Usa to the lower reaches of the Ob. The second route went down the Northern Dvina , then along the coasts of the White Sea and Kara Sea , before reaching the mouth of the Ob. The Russian settlements of Beryozov and Obdorsk were founded towards the end of the 16th century on the lower reaches of the Ob, while Surgut was founded on the middle course of the Ob. Until the early 20th century,

2494-552: The 17th century; competitive national whaling industries in the 18th and 19th centuries; and the introduction of factory ships and explosive harpoons along with the concept of whale harvesting in the first half of the 20th century. By the late 1930s, more than 50,000 whales were killed annually. In 1982, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) decided that there should be a pause on commercial whaling on all whale species from 1986 onwards because of

2580-526: The 1960s through 1980s, Soviet engineers and administrators contemplated a gigantic project to divert some of the waters of Ob and Irtysh to Kazakhstan and the Soviet Central Asian republics, replenishing the Aral Sea as well. The project never left the drawing board, abandoned in 1986 for economic and environmental considerations. The water in the river is significantly polluted. In

2666-628: The Basques being recruited not only by the English in later years, but by the Dutch, northern French, and Danish, all who relied on Basque experts in the opening years of the Spitsbergen fishery. River Ob 12,475.1 m /s (440,550 cu ft/s) (Period of data: 1930–1984) The Ob ( / ˈ ɒ b / ) is a major river in Russia. It is in western Siberia , and with its tributary

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2752-637: The Caribbean (where people are advised not to exceed one serving every three weeks), in the Faroe Islands, and in Japan. Scientists have analyzed the ability of the oceans to sequester atmospheric carbon before industrial whaling and in modern times, hundreds of years after the most active whaling periods. Focusing on the amount of carbon stored in baleen whales, scientists determined that large marine mammals hold over 9 million less tons of carbon in

2838-408: The IWC moratorium lifted on certain whale stocks for hunting. Anti-whaling countries and environmental activists oppose lifting the ban. Under the terms of the IWC moratorium, aboriginal whaling is allowed to continue on a subsistence basis . Over the past few decades, whale watching has become a significant industry in many parts of the world; in some countries it has replaced whaling, but in

2924-523: The IWC, because in its opinion, the IWC had failed its duty to promote sustainable hunting as the culture within the IWC moved towards an anti-whaling, pro-conservation agenda. Japanese officials also announced they will resume commercial hunting within its territorial waters and its 200-mile exclusive economic zones starting in July 2019, but it will cease whaling activities in the Antarctic Ocean,

3010-460: The IWC, the organization had raised its suspicions with the former Soviet Union, but it did not take further action because it could not interfere with national sovereignty. Whales are long-lived predators, so their tissues build up concentrations of methylmercury from their prey. Mercury concentrations reach levels that are hazardous to humans who consume too much too often, since mercury also bioaccumulates in humans. High levels have been found in

3096-743: The Japanese claim of research "as a disguise for commercial whaling, which is banned." The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has attempted to disrupt Japanese whaling in the Antarctic since 2003 but eventually ceased this activity in 2017 due to little achievement in creating change. Other NGOs such as the Australian Marine Conservation Society and Humane Society International continued to campaign against Japan's scientific whaling program and block votes at IWC to bring back commercial whaling. The stated purpose of

3182-516: The Ob basin provided for (somewhat indirect) transport in the east–west direction as well. The Novgorodians were aware of the lands of western Siberia from at least the 11th century, which were designated by the Russian word Yugra . Novgorod established two trade routes to the Ob River, both starting from the town of Ustyug . The first route went along the Sukhona and Vychegda , then along

3268-401: The Ob river, the largest being Novosibirskaya GES. The navigable waters within the Ob basin reach a total length of 15,000 km (9,300 mi). The importance of navigation in the Ob basin for transport was particularly great before the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway , since, despite the general south-to-north direction of the flow of Ob and most of its tributaries, the width of

3354-481: The Ob with the Yenisei , but soon abandoned as being uncompetitive with the railway . The Trans-Siberian Railway, once completed, provided for more direct, year-round transport in the east–west direction. But the Ob river-system still remained important for connecting the huge expanses of Tyumen Oblast and Tomsk Oblast with the major cities along the Trans-Siberian route, such as Novosibirsk or Omsk . In

3440-549: The Ob. From their respective sources to the confluence, the Irtysh measures 4,248 kilometers (2,640 mi) and the Ob 2,538 km (1,577 mi). Other noteworthy tributaries are: from the east, the Tom , Chulym , Ket , Tym and Vakh rivers; and, from the west and south, the Vasyugan , Irtysh (with the Ishim and Tobol rivers), and Severnaya Sosva . The Ob zigzags west and north until it reaches 55° N, where it curves to

3526-584: The Southern Ocean, which was declared a whale sanctuary in 1994. Opponents of the compromise plan want to see an end to all commercial whaling but are willing to allow subsistence-level catches by indigenous peoples . These totals include great whales: counts from IWC and WDC and IWC Summary Catch Database version 6.1, July 2016. The IWC database is supplemented by Faroese catches of pilot whales, Greenland's and Canada's catches of narwhals (data 1954–2014), belugas from multiple sources shown in

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3612-623: The Spanish ship thither, it was the success of this voyage that induced a fleet of ships to sail from the Basque country and northern France the following season (1613). In 1614 Woodcock returned to whaling. He was forced to serve under the Muscovy Company, which had been given a monopoly on the trade the previous year. He sailed as master of the Prosperous , which resorted to Sir Thomas Smith Bay ( Forlandsundet ) and Cross Road (Ebeltofthamna). In

3698-476: The annual gross value received from Beluga hunts in Hudson Bay in 2013 was CA$ 600,000 for 190 belugas, or CA$ 3,000 per beluga, and CA$ 530,000 for 81 narwhals, or CA$ 6,500 per narwhal. However the net income, after subtracting costs in time and equipment, was a loss of CA$ 60 per person for belugas and CA$ 7 per person for narwhals. Hunts receive subsidies, but they continue as a tradition rather than for

3784-414: The anti-whaling side for the continuation of scientific whaling. Deputy whaling commissioner, Joji Morishita, told BBC News : The reason for the moratorium [on commercial whaling] was scientific uncertainty about the number of whales. ... It was a moratorium for the sake of collecting data and that is why we started scientific whaling. We were asked to collect more data. This collusive relationship between

3870-487: The area of its basin 2,990,000 square kilometres (1,150,000 sq mi). The river basin of the Ob consists mostly of steppe , taiga , swamps, tundra , and semi-desert topography. The floodplains of the Ob are characterised by many tributaries and lakes. The Ob is icebound at southern Barnaul from early in November to near the end of April, and at northern Salekhard , 150 km (93 mi) above its mouth, from

3956-633: The catch methods used to capture and kill the whales. The Inuit mastered the art of whaling around the 11 century AD in the Bering Strait . The technique consisted of spearing a whale with a spear connected to an inflated seal bladder. The bladder would float and exhaust the whale when diving, and when it surfaced the Inuit hunters would spear it again, further exhausting the animal until they were able to kill it. Vikings in Greenland also ate whale meat, but archaeologists believe they never hunted them on

4042-545: The catch. The average per year from 2012 to 2016 was around 150 minke and 17 fin whales and humpback whales taken from west coast waters and around 10 minke from east coast waters. In April 2009 Greenland landed its first bowhead whale in nearly 40 years. It landed three bowheads each year in 2009 and 2010, one each in 2011 and 2015. In 2021 the Sermersooq municipal council banned whaling in Nuup Kangerlua , one of

4128-483: The end of October to the beginning of June. The Ob River crosses several climatic zones. The upper Ob valley, in the south, supports grapes, melons and watermelons, whereas the lower reaches of the Ob are Arctic tundra. The most temperate climates on the Ob are at Biysk , Barnaul, and Novosibirsk . The Ob provides irrigation, drinking water, hydroelectric energy, and fishing (the river hosts more than 50 species of fish). There are several hydroelectric power plants along

4214-449: The existence of cetaceans. Large ships and boats make a tremendous amount of noise that falls into the same frequency range of many whales. Bycatch also kills more animals than hunting. Some scientists believe pollution to be a factor. Moreover, since the IWC moratorium, there have been several instances of illegal whale hunting by IWC nations. In 1994, the IWC reported evidence from genetic testing of whale meat and blubber for sale on

4300-635: The extreme depletion of most of the whale stocks. Contemporary whaling for whale meat is subject to intense debate. Iceland, Japan, Norway, First Nations people in Canada, Native Americans in the USA, and the Danish dependencies of the Faroe Islands and Greenland continue to hunt in the 21st century. The IWC ban on commercial whaling has been very successful, with only Iceland, Japan and Norway still engaging in and supporting commercial hunting. They also support having

4386-420: The hunt of one whale every two years from the Hudson Bay-Foxe Basin population, and one whale every 13 years from the Baffin Bay-Davis Strait population. The traditional whale hunt, known as grindadráp , is regulated by Faroese authorities but not by the IWC, which does not claim jurisdiction over small cetaceans. Around 800 long-finned pilot whales ( Globicephala melaena ) are caught each year, mainly during

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4472-447: The immediate source of derivation for the Russian name. Katz's proposal of a common Finno-Ugric root, borrowed early on from a pre-Indo-Iranian source related to Sanskrit ambhas- 'water' is deemed improbable by Rédei (1992), who prefers to analyse this as a later loan from a descendant of the non-nasal root form *Hā́p- . The Ob is known to the Khanty people as the As (the source of the name " Ostyak "), Yag , Kolta and Yema ; to

4558-477: The largest fjords in inhabited areas of Greenland. The council did not want hunting to kill the humpback whales seen by the local tourism industry. Before local humpback hunting resumed in 2010 there had been nine humpbacks in the fjord during summer. When hunting resumed some were killed and others left. Sermersooq has not banned whaling elsewhere in the municipality, which is the world's largest municipality, at 200,000 square miles on both coasts. Originally one of

4644-434: The late 1980s. Archaeological evidence suggests the earliest known forms of whaling date to at least 3000 BC, practiced by the Inuit and other peoples in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. Coastal communities around the world have long histories of subsistence use of cetaceans , by dolphin drive hunting and by harvesting drift whales . Widespread commercial whaling emerged with organized fleets of whaling ships in

4730-431: The latter area he established a temporary whaling station. In 1617 Woodcock is mentioned by the Danish as being a master of an English ship in Green Harbor ( Grønfjorden ). He is last mentioned in Spitsbergen in 1618, when he was master of the interloper Sea Horse . In 1622, Woodcock was among those present in the Anglo-Persian attack on Kishm (23 January – 1 February) and siege of Ormus (9 February – 23 April), in which he

4816-422: The lower reaches, the maximum permissible concentrations of petroleum products are exceeded by 9-10 times. The oxygen content in the water is 4 times lower than normal The Irtysh is the major tributary of the Ob. The larger tributaries along its course are: In addition, the Nadym and the Pur River flow into the Gulf of Ob and the Taz into the Taz Estuary , a side arm of the Gulf of Ob. Cities along

4902-424: The money, and the economic analysis noted that whale watching may be an alternate revenue source. Of the gross income, CA$ 550,000 was for beluga skin and meat, to replace beef, pork and chickens which would otherwise be bought, CA$ 50,000 was received for carved vertebrae and teeth. CA$ 370,000 was for narwhal skin and meat, CA$ 150,000 was received for tusks, and carved vertebrae and teeth of males, and CA$ 10,000

4988-444: The most successful whaling nations, German whaling vessels started from Hamburg and other smaller cities on the Elbe River, hunting for whales around Greenland and Spitsbergen . While 1770 is recorded to have been the most successful year of German whaling, German whaling went into steep decline with the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars and never really recovered. After the Napoleonic Wars, Germany tried but could never re-establish

5074-443: The northwest, south of the Siberian Uvaly , at the western end of which it bends northwards, wheeling finally eastwards into the Gulf of Ob , a 1,000-kilometre-long (620-mile) bay of the Kara Sea , separating the Yamal Peninsula from the Gyda Peninsula . The combined Ob-Irtysh system, the fourth-longest river system of Asia (after Yenisei , and China's Yangzi and Yellow rivers), is 5,410 kilometres (3,360 mi) long, and

5160-417: The ocean than during the pre whaling era (9.1 x 10^6 tons). Whales play an important role in the carbon cycle in life and death. Living whales cycle carbon and nitrogen throughout the water column via whale feces where it can contribute to primary productivity at the surface. In death, their carcasses can become part of a whale fall and sink to the bottom, bringing their carbon with them to help form

5246-441: The only other one hunts minke whales for domestic consumption, as the meat is popular with tourists . Iceland has its own whale watching sector, which exists in uneasy tension with the whaling industry. Iceland did not object to the 1986 IWC moratorium. Between 1986 and 1989 around 60 animals per year were taken under a scientific permit. However, under strong pressure from anti-whaling countries, who viewed scientific whaling as

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5332-455: The open market in Japan in 1993. In addition to the legally permitted minke whale, the analyses showed that 10–25% of tissues sampled came from non-minke baleen whales . Further research in 1995 and 1996 showed a significant drop of non-minke baleen whales sampled to 2.5%. In a separate paper, Baker stated that "many of these animals certainly represent a bycatch (incidental entrapment in fishing gear)" and stated that DNA monitoring of whale meat

5418-496: The orderly development of the whaling industry. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) was set up under the ICRW to decide hunting quotas and other relevant matters based on the findings of its Scientific Committee. Non-member countries are not bound by its regulations and conduct their own management programs. It regulates hunting of 13 species of great whales and has not reached consensus on whether it may regulate smaller species. The IWC voted on July 23, 1982, to establish

5504-409: The organisation to lift the ban. A coalition of anti-whaling nations offered a compromise plan that would allow these countries to continue whaling but with smaller catches and under close supervision. Their plan would also completely ban whaling in the Southern Ocean . More than 200 scientists and experts have opposed the compromise proposal for lifting the ban and have also opposed allowing whaling in

5590-648: The research program is to establish the size and dynamics of whale populations. The Japanese government wishes to resume whaling in a sustainable manner under the oversight of the IWC, both for whale products (meat, etc.) and to help preserve fishing resources by culling whales. Anti-whaling organizations claim that the research program is a front for commercial whaling, that the sample size is needlessly large and that equivalent information can be obtained by non-lethal means, for example by studying samples of whale tissue (such as skin) or feces. The Japanese government sponsored Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), which conducts

5676-506: The research, disagrees, stating that the information obtainable from tissue and/or feces samples is insufficient and that the sample size is necessary in order to be representative. Japan's scientific whaling program is controversial in anti-whaling countries. Countries opposed to whaling have passed non-binding resolutions in the IWC urging Japan to stop the program. Japan claims that whale stocks for some species are sufficiently large to sustain commercial hunting and blame filibustering by

5762-474: The river include: From a confluence to a source: Whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber , which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution . Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16th century, it had become the principal industry in the Basque coastal regions of Spain and France. The whaling industry spread throughout

5848-430: The same Nicholas Woodcock. Woodcock is one of the most important figures in the first phase of whaling in Spitsbergen (i.e. bay whaling), as he was not only the one to suggest shipping Basques for the first whaling voyage to Spitsbergen in 1611, but he led the first Basque vessel to Spitsbergen the following year. It was the success of the latter voyage that led to a boom on the trade in Spitsbergen. His suggestion led to

5934-422: The same year he had found the above-mentioned horn. Woodcock lost the Whale in March between Surat and Daman on his way to Mocha . Many of the crew drowned, among them his son, Richard. He also lost his whole estate. Woodcock was accused of having contributed to the loss of the Whale by taking out ballast and overloading the ship. Woodcock was in England from 1624 to 1626. In November 1626, at his request, he

6020-493: The sea. Greenlandic Inuit whalers catch around 175 large whales per year, mostly minke whales, as well as 360 narwhals, 200 belugas, 190 pilot whales and 2,300 porpoises. The government of Greenland sets limits for narwhals and belugas. There are no limits on pilot whales and porpoises. The IWC treats the west and east coasts of Greenland as two separate population areas and sets separate quotas for each coast. The far more densely populated west coast accounts for over 90% of

6106-411: The second half of the 20th century, construction of rail links to Labytnangi , Tobolsk , and the oil and gas cities of Surgut , and Nizhnevartovsk provided more railheads, but did not diminish the importance of the waterways for reaching places still not served by the rail. A dam built near Novosibirsk in 1956 created the then-largest artificial lake in Siberia , called Novosibirsk Reservoir . From

6192-615: The study was to deepen the understanding of fish–whale interactions. Amid disagreement within the IWC Scientific Committee about the value of the research and its relevance to IWC objectives, no decision on the proposal was reached. However, under the terms of the convention the Icelandic government issued permits for a scientific catch. In 2003 Iceland resumed scientific whaling which continued in 2004 and 2005. Iceland resumed commercial whaling in 2006. Its annual quota

6278-419: The summer. Other species are not hunted, though occasionally Atlantic white-sided dolphin can be found among the pilot whales. Most Faroese consider the hunt an important part of their culture and history and arguments about the topic raise strong emotions. Animal-rights groups criticize the hunt as being cruel and unnecessary and economically insignificant. Hunters claim that most journalists lack knowledge of

6364-617: The terms of the Packwood -Magnuson Amendment, Japan withdrew its objection in 1987. According to the BBC , the US went back on this promise, effectively destroying the deal. Since Japan could not resume commercial whaling, it began whaling on a purported scientific-research basis. Australia , Greenpeace , the Australian Marine Conservation Society , Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and other groups dispute

6450-406: The value of 'lethal sampling' to establish catch quotas, the value of controlling whales' impact on fish stocks and the rapidly approaching extinction of a few whale species. The World Wide Fund for Nature says that 90% of all northern right whales killed by human activities are from ship collisions, calling for restrictions on the movement of shipping in certain areas. Noise pollution threatens

6536-538: The vessels in the first place than making money with the goods brought back to shore. Today, local historians believe that German whaling in the late 19th century was more a rite of passage for the sons of wealthy farmers from northern German islands than an action undertaken for true commercial reason. German whaling was abandoned in 1872. Prior to the First World War , the newly established German Empire attempted to re-establish large scale German whaling. This

6622-595: The whaling industry and the Japanese government is sometimes criticized by pro-whaling activists who support local, small-scale coastal whaling such as the Taiji dolphin drive hunt . In September 2018, Japan chaired the 67th IWC meeting in Brazil and attempted to pass a motion to lift the moratorium on commercial whaling. Japan did not receive enough votes and the IWC rejected the motion. Subsequently, on 26 December 2018, Japan announced that it would withdraw its membership from

6708-483: The world and became very profitable in terms of trade and resources. Some regions of the world's oceans, along the animals' migration routes, had a particularly dense whale population and became targets for large concentrations of whaling ships, and the industry continued to grow well into the 20th century. The depletion of some whale species to near extinction led to the banning of whaling in many countries by 1969 and to an international cessation of whaling as an industry in

6794-462: Was 30 minke whales (out of an estimated 174,000 animals in the central and north-eastern North Atlantic ) and nine fin whales (out of an estimated 30,000 animals in the central and north-eastern North Atlantic ). For the 2012 commercial whaling season, starting in April and lasting six months, the quota was set to 216 minke whales, of which 52 were caught. Iceland did not hunt any whales in 2019, and it

6880-757: Was acquitted and discharged by the Court. In May 1635 he was master of the Revenge of London, which loaded tobacco, skins and other goods in Virginia from Richard Bennett. At the time he was said to be a sailor of 50 years of age who resided at Wapping , Middlesex . A will, dated 3 June 1658, is preserved in the Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury of a certain "Nicholas Woodcocke of King's Cliffe , Northamptonshire", which may or may not belong to

6966-518: Was called the Greenland right whale ( Balaena mysticetus ). Angry over the fact he wasn't chosen to go on this expedition, he shipped aboard an interloping vessel from Hull , the Hopewell , Thomas Marmaduke , master. In 1612, Woodcock piloted the first whaleship from San Sebastian , under Juan de Erauso, to Spitsbergen. Although he was sent to the gatehouse and tower for sixteen months for leading

7052-640: Was conducted out of other mainland centres. Modern whaling using harpoon guns and iron hulled catchers was conducted in the 20th century from shore-based stations in Western Australia , South Australia , New South Wales and Queensland , also in Norfolk Island . Overfishing saw the closure of some whaling stations before a government ban on the industry was introduced in 1978 after a major campaign by conservationists. Canadians kill about 600 narwhals per year. They kill 100 belugas per year in

7138-526: Was master of the Whale , vice-admiral of the nine ship English fleet. He was accused of having "gotten an unknown booty at Ormus", which he vehemently denied, but was later found guilty of (November 1624). Woodcock is mentioned in the travels of Pietro Della Valle as master of the same vessel, in which Della Valle sailed from Bandar Abbas to Surat in January 1623. Della Valle said that Woodcock had spent over

7224-565: Was received for carved vertebrae and teeth of female narwhals. The Whale and Dolphin Conservation says: "Canada has pursued a policy of marine mammal management which appears to be more to do with political expediency rather than conservation." Canada left the IWC in 1982, and the only IWC-regulated species currently harvested by the Canadian Inuit is the bowhead whale. As of 2004, the limit on bowhead whale hunting allows for

7310-522: Was spurred in the 19th century by the increase in demand for whale oil , sometimes known as "train oil", and in the 20th century by a demand for margarine and later whale meat . The primary species hunted are minke whales , belugas , narwhals , and pilot whales , which are some of the smallest species of whales. There are also smaller numbers killed of gray whales , sei whales , fin whales , bowhead whales , Bryde's whales , sperm whales and humpback whales . Recent scientific surveys estimate

7396-400: Was undertaken with ships either going from Germany to Iceland or from the newly established German colonies to African waters. These attempts never were commercially successful and quickly given up. Only in the 1930s could Germany—with mainly Norwegian personnel—re-establish a large and successful whaling industry. More than 15,000 whales were caught between 1930 and 1939. With the beginning of

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