Catch Records of the Twenty North Pacific Right Whales from Two Alaska Whaling Stations, 1917-39

Abstract

The North Pacific right whale population was hunted commercially between 1835 and 1935, at which time the species received protection. Commercial whalers harvested over 15 O00 North Pacific right whales during this period, so reducing the population that today there are an estimated 100-200 right whales in the North Pacific. The American Pacific Whaling Company operated in the Gulf of Alaska and eastem Bering Sea during 1917-39. We report the distribution, sexes, and lengths of 20 right whales recorded in the Company logbooks and ledgers. These records identify that right whale catches were widely distributed on the whaling grounds and tended to decrease over the May-October whaling season. Of the 17 whales for which sex and length data were documented, 1 1 were females. Their average length exceeded that of males. Lengths of the whales indicated that 41% of the catch were sexually mature; two females canied fetuses. Although the sample size is small, these results suggest that the North Pacific right whale population was inhabiting its historic summering grounds after the period of heavy exploitation in the 1800s, reproducing as late as 1926, and supporting a subadult cohort at least until the species was protected. Key words: right whale, North Pacific Ocean, Alaska, distribution RÉSUMÉ. La population de baleines noires dans le nord du Pacifique fut sujète à la chasse commerciale entre 1835 et 1935, date à laquelle elle fut prot6gée. Les baleiniers commerciaux tuhrent plus de 15 O00 baleines noires durant cette période, réduisant leurs nombres à un tel point qu'il n'existe aujourd'hui qu'entre 100 et 200 baleines noires dans le nord du Pacifique. La American Pacific Whaling Company poursuivit ses opérations dans le golfe de l'Alaska et le mer de Béring de 1917 à 1939. Le présent article signale la distribution, le sexe et la longueur de 20 baleines noires inscrites dans les grands livres et les journaux de bord de la compagnie. Les dossiers indiquent que les prises de baleines noires étaient distribuées sur une vaste région dans les eaux de chasse àla baleine et semblaient diminuer progressivement durant la saison de chasse àla baleine qui durait de mai àoctobre. Des 17 baleines dont le sexe et la longueur étaient documentés, 11 &aient des femelles. Leur longueur moyenne excédait celle des mâles. La longueur des baleines indiquait que 41% des prises avaient atteint la maturité sexuelle; deux femelles portaient des foetus. Bien que la taille de l'échantillonnage est restreint, ces résultats suggèrent que la population de baleines noires habitaità ce moment-là ses eaux estivales historiques après la période d'exploitation intensive des annees 1800, que le cycle de reproduction se r6p6tait au moins jusqu'en 1926 et qu'une suite de subadultes était assurée au moins jusqu'au passage des lois protectrices. Mots clés: baleine noire, nord de l'océan Pacifique, Alaska, distribution Traduit pour le journal par Maurice Guibord.

Historic and current habitat use by North Pacific right whales Eubalaena japonica in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska

“…Additional data sets presented in Townsend (1935), Omura (1958), Reeves et al . (1985), Brueggeman, Newby & Grotefendt (1986), Scarff (1991), Miyashita, Kato & Kasuya (1995), LeDuc et al . (2001), andLeDuc (2004) are described in greater detail below.…”

“…Descriptions of 17 kill locations in Alaskan waters (1924–35) in Reeves et al . (1985) were converted to latitudes and longitudes by Brueggeman et al . (1986).…”

A Group of Right Whales Seen in the Bering Sea in July 1996

“…A GROUP OF RIGHT WHALES SEEN IN THE BERING SEA IN JULY 1996 Northern right whales (Eubalaena glacialis), once common across virtually the entire North Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of Alaska to the Sea of Okhotsk (Webb 1988, Scarff 1991, are now "the world's most depleted species of large whale" (NMFS 1991). Although no accurate abundance estimate is available for the North Pacific population, there may be "only a few hundred survivors today" (Braham 1986), a result of intense commercial whaling in the 1800s (Brueggeman et al 1986;Scarff 1986Scarff , 1991Webb 1988). Some international protection has been provided since 1935 (Brownell et al 1986), but it is now known that whaling continued even into the 1960s (e.g., Klumov 1962, Omura et al 1969, Yablokov 1994.…”

“…Sightings of right whale calves are extremely rare in the eastern North Pacific Ocean; in fact, no confirmed sightings of calves have occurred there in the past 150 yr (Scarff 1991 (53*52'N, 172'46'W and 54"04'N, 172'35'W, respectively). Klumov (1962) reported two fetuses taken during Soviet research whaling in the Kuril Islands in the western North Pacific: one taken on 17 May 1955 was 1.9 m long and another on ugust 1955 was 4.4 m. Fetuses were also recorded in whaling logs at the Akutan (eastern Aleutian Islands) and Port Hobron (Kodiak Island) whaling stations (Reeves et al 1985, Brueggeman et al 1986). One fetus was 1.7 m long in late June 1925; the other was 5.5 m long in mid-September 1926, perhaps near term.…”

Rare detections of North Pacific right whales in the Gulf of Alaska, with observations of their potential prey

“…In contrast, 19th century whaling records suggest that the great majority of catches occurred in pelagic waters of the Gulf of Alaska (Townsend 1935, Shelden et al 2005. In the early 20th century, whalers at the Port Hobron shore station reported 13 right whale catches or sightings near Kodiak Island from 1924 to 1937 (Reeves et al 1985, Brueggeman et al 1986, Shelden et al 2005. All of the whales except one were in shelf waters, and 8 of the 13 were located in the Barnabus Trough area (Fig.…”