Interesting article of whaling and how Russia almost made them extinct

[Concerto]

Just read this article about how Russia was actively hunting whales when the majority of the world had stopped. They under declared their catches and almost caused many species to become extinct. Very interesting reading.

The Soviet Union once hunted endangered whales to the brink of extinction – but its scientists opposed whaling and secretly tracked its toll (theconversation.com)

 

[johnalison]

Fascinating, thanks. I knew about the Norwegians and Japs of course but hadn’t thought about the Russians. I have never yet seen a whale, but things have moved on from when I was a child and whales were assumed to be fair game. The trouble can be that removing predators, which is what whales are, can disturb and deplete the whole system. The loss of sperm whales was probably good news for giant squid but not so good for the ocean.