Gray Whale Population Before Whaling Was Up to 5 Times Larger, Study Says

Gray whale breaching.

By Jennifer Welsh, LiveScience Staff Writer

The population of eastern Pacific gray whales shows a huge dip at the same point that whaling increased in the early 20th century, a new analysis of acient whale genes shows.

Eastern Pacific gray whales are a subspecies of grey whale that lives in the Pacific Ocean, migrating from the Arctic to Mexico yearly. Their population is currently estimated to be around 20,000. They are up to 46 feet (14 meters) long and weigh up to 99,000 pounds (45,000 kilograms).

While scientists have known that commercial whaling decreased whale populations, the specifics of the population prior to whaling has been uncertain. To get a better understanding of the pre-whaling numbers for one subspecies of gray whale, the researchers used DNA samples from the bones of eastern Pacific gray whales that lived between 150 and 2,500 years ago and compared the results with the genomes of modern whales.

"In this case, we were able to look at pre-whaling specimens of gray whales, and found that the genetic data are consistent with a sharp and recent bottleneck — very likely the result of commercial whaling," study researcher Elizabeth Alter, of City University of New York, York College, said in a statement.

They saw that the older whales, from before the advent of commercial whaling, had much more variation within their genomes than today's whales. This means that at the time, the whale population was much larger.

This genetic data on those whales suggests their population used to be much larger than their current numbers, probably around 78,000 to 116,000. These estimates were at odds with historical records of whale populations, the researchers said, which had suggested that there were somewhere between 15,000 and 35,500 whales at that time.

Their new study supports the previous genetic work, which focused on only current whale populations and suggested their numbers were much larger even as little as 200 years ago.

"Retrieving DNA from ancient whales allows more direct insights into their population histories than using modern DNA alone," Alter said. "As methods for retrieval and analysis of ancient DNA improve, we'll be able to increasingly refine population histories for heavily exploited species like whales."

The results were published May 9 in the journal PLoS ONE.

You can follow LiveScience staff writer Jennifer Welsh on Twitter, on Google+ or on Facebook. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter and on Facebook.

• In Photos: Tracking Humpback Whales
• Bounds of Biodiversity: Photos of Wildlife At Risk
• Image Gallery: Mysterious Lives of Whale Sharks

Copyright 2012 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Also on HuffPost:

From our partners

• Widespread Greenland Melting A Sign Of Things To Come - Climate Central
• Limiting Methane Leaks Critical To Gas, Climate Benefits - Climate Central
• 11 Images And Facts About A Misunderstood Creature - Mother Nature Network

Comments

[Ocean Protector]

01:04 PM on 08/15/2012

They are all, or soon will be, on dinner plates in downtown Tokyo restaurants as sushi and sashimi little rectangles.

But wait; it is all done for "real scientific research" right? ;) LOL

[Linus521]

02:06 AM on 05/15/2012

It's commonly reported, why, this specie is thriving, and this specie's populations are intact; however, where is the data that compares historic information and delineations that shed light on the truth of so-called, "biodiversity/wildlife management". How can man manage the Earth and her strands in the web of all life, like whales, better than Earth while man is light years beyond comprehending all that is required to save life itself?

I immediately distrust all this garbled gook that is supposed to report on historic populations of any of the bricks and mortar of man's only house, the Earth?

So, all of these, let's butcher the whales for snacks and this and that because their populations have expanded -- expanded to Earth's historic population levels, choke, cough because current data on this specie indicates the opposite. These whales are definitely below their historic population levels, and man can manage the Earth, better than Earth?

[jonny dipstick]

07:56 PM on 05/15/2012

What the hell are you talking about?

[Linus521]

08:38 PM on 05/15/2012

The reasoning given for the increased whale butchering by Japan and Norwary is because the whales populations have grown to their historic populations while, how does any man know what their historic populations were when man was only interested in killing the whales for whale oil, snacks, etc.

I don't believe man should be in the business of managing the Earth's species of biodiversity or wildlife. If man is light years beyond fully comprehending how ecosystems and biodiversity create and support all life, how can they manage the creators of Earth's ecosystems?

Whales are biodiversity. Mankind knows better how to manage wild species than Earth while Earth got it right long ago? Perhaps, this will help with what I'm attempting to articulate, but I guess, not too clearly. Sorry!

The specie's populations mentioned in this article are in decline. So, maybe no one should be butchering them, right?

[inde4reality]

01:39 PM on 05/14/2012

Gee... ya think there was more whales before commercial fishing... wow who would have thought... Another 2 minutes of my life I will never get back.. Thanks Huff

[jonny dipstick]

07:56 PM on 05/15/2012

Its not that its lower, its how much lower. That is the interesting part.

[bad spelling grammar]

01:14 PM on 05/14/2012

If human actions are creating an ocean were whales can’t survive it’s only a matter of time until our actions create and ocean in which we can’t use leading to our own extinction.

[Linus521]

02:09 AM on 05/15/2012

According to the science of ecology, man exists only because of ecosystems, and ecosystems exist only because of their plant and animal biodiversity, just like Earth's whales.

Just like tigers and mountain lions, the fish of the seas, the birds of the air, the turtles of the seas and plant biodiversity. I have a strong feeling, you are aware of this, tho.

[bad spelling grammar]

01:16 PM on 05/15/2012

yes, but you should understand the concept of the food chain, if we kill off plankton which is very sensitive it will affect the fish, sharks, whales, and ultimately people. So if you start seeing apex predators die off then you know something is wrong.

[catbyte]

11:12 AM on 05/14/2012

Humans suck.

[dcrain]

12:26 PM on 05/14/2012

does that mean that you suck?

[catbyte]

12:39 PM on 05/14/2012

Yup. I've committed offenses against the planet that I'm not proud of but at least I try.

[aldebaranredstar]

12:10 AM on 05/14/2012

This should be the headline on Huffpost. People do not realize the dire peril the ocean is in due to overfishing, pollution, climate change, and how this is going to affect the entire planet's ecosystem--the whole system that makes it work. When the oceans can no longer absorb co2 or produce oxygen, climate change will soar. I try and tell my friends and everyone not to eat any fish and indeed to just go vegan/vegetarian. The ocean needs a break. People really do not appreciate the emergency. I read a post where someone was saying how happy he was that the ocean water near him was now clear whereas before it was murky--it being clear means it is empty of life so that is not a good thing at all. People really need education on this. Wish more info on this would reach everyone around the world. Only if the people themselves rise up will the gov'ts stand up and do something to stop the destruction. We don't know how to fix it, so we should stop breaking it.

[Linus521]

02:10 AM on 05/15/2012

Scientifically rich and outstanding commentary. You grabbed the big picture, f'd!

[aldebaranredstar]

05:59 PM on 05/15/2012

thanks, Linus 521! f'd back.

[jonny dipstick]

07:59 PM on 05/15/2012

Yeah good luck convincing people of that. They look at the ocean and see it as a black hole you can just dump your problems into. Plus, its sometimes inconvenient to change. This is going to be a very tough battle that will probably result in disaster before any real changes are made by the general population. Then countries like China will still be doing it.

[aldebaranredstar]

11:05 PM on 05/16/2012

yes, it will be a tough battle but I think people are open to information--it's their naivete that contributes to the problem. You very well could be right, of course, and yet we have to try and turn things around. If we lose the ocean, we are lost.

[mamacat]

10:01 PM on 05/13/2012

Some pictures of whales caught up in drift, shark, and gill nets....

The good: http://planetsave.com/2011/07/22/heroic-family-rescues-humpback-whale-from-fishing-net-video/

The bad: http://www.removesharknets.com/?p=293

The ugly: http://www.starfiretor.com/TheWhaleAndDolphinPeopleProject/NetDeathPhotos.htm

[Jeremyewilliams]

04:23 PM on 05/14/2012

These need to be seen.

[jonny dipstick]

08:00 PM on 05/15/2012

I have a hard time looking at those. Its so disturbing.

[mamacat]

06:02 PM on 05/13/2012

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) documented at least 700 whale deaths in 2008 due to collisions with ships.

http://iwcoffice.org/_documents/sci_com/SC60docs/SC-60-BC5.pdf

It is possible that more than 300,000 cetaceans die every year in fishing nets, although most of that number are likely the smaller porpoises and dolphins. Nevertheless, many large whales also die in nets every year, with the exact number unknown. It is possible that thousands of large whales die every year in nets.

http://archive.suite101.com/article.cfm/whales/102032

Act Now estimated in 2006 that 1,400 whales were killed by hunting in that year.

http://actnow.com.au/Issues/Whaling.aspx

Since the international moratorium on whaling in the 1980s, the numbers of most whale species have increased, although some remain at numbers that could still result in extinction, and some others went extinct before the moratorium.

[Mr Anonymous]

01:51 PM on 05/13/2012

A lot of people are talking about whaling and oil pollution, but let's not forget about noise pollution with the increased number of ships causing problems for them.

[olitenup]

02:06 PM on 05/13/2012

And the sonar blasts from the US Navy and oil companies.

[Son of Liberty 1765]

12:24 PM on 05/14/2012

Lets ban ships.

[bad spelling grammar]

01:09 PM on 05/14/2012

Lets ban your life by ending it

[Jeremyewilliams]

04:26 PM on 05/14/2012

You see everything black and white, you're too simple for this discussion.

You need to analyse, think, then respond. :)

[Gloria W]

01:13 PM on 05/13/2012

A few more tanker spills, the marine life will totally cease to exist. The massive dirty tar tankers from China, will destroy BC's Northern coastline. They are having to navigate the worst seas in the world. There are hurricane force wind warnings, every other day. There are waves 40 to 50 feet. Rogue waves over 70 feet high. The channel narrow. The tankers gigantic, that have to do hairpin turns. It takes three miles to stop on of those behemoth tankers. In that channel, there are our beautiful Orca and Humpback Whales and a wealth of other marine life. That oil is lethal. It is 60% more toxic than Harper declared.

Recently there were three freighters, caught in one of the horrendous storms off the BC coast. The storm tore their cargo's off their ships, and tossed it into the sea. One ship put out a distress call. It took hours to reach the stricken ship. The freighters had to turn back, and limp into BC harbors.

Man is the most destructive animal on earth, and the most stupid one at that.

[jonny dipstick]

08:03 PM on 05/15/2012

I would like to see much more pressure from countries on other countries. Can you imagine if US & Canada threatened war on China? That would be awesome. Maybe we could get them to change.

[zheembeaux]

09:45 AM on 05/13/2012

Where have all the whales gone? Read Paradise Found, by Steve Nicholls. The early chapters are a survey of the letters and documents for the last 1000 years, talking about what the early explorers and merchants and hunters found/experienced when they first arrived. + writings of the next few hundred years. I've had to put the book down several times because of the deep upwelling of sorrow i feel not just for the loss of species and diversity and natural abundance (including all species of whales), but also the rapaciousness and destructiveness of my own species.

I'm a naturalist .. have been most all the 70 years of my life and to find this book that describes what was, and now seeing what is ...

What came to mind was Pete Seegar's song, Where Have All The Flowers Gone? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y2SIIeqy34 and i went back to listen to it. Pete is still the best.

Is anybody into doing a re-write as :

Where Have All the Whales Gone?
Long time passing,
Where have all the whales gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the whales gone?
Gone to the hunters every one,
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?

Hunters sold to merchants, every one,
Merchants sold to people, every one
People consumed them, every one
When the whales were no more
This is a very rough draft for someone else to finish and freely given to who ever wants it.

[Orkneygal]

09:02 AM on 05/13/2012

Where has all the Arctic Sea Ice gone?

http://tinyurl.com/7ft4ub6

[Jeremyewilliams]

04:28 PM on 05/14/2012

You linked wattsupwiththat.

You lose.

[KnightlyScribe]

07:27 AM on 05/13/2012

Why we allow ourselves to hunt and kill in 2012 is beyond me. Animals - like *us* - are thinking, emotional, social beings. They have a social consciousness - one of which we're mostly ignorant because we're so busy hunting them. They have a language. They have rituals. Sound familiar...?

[the pariah]

10:37 AM on 05/14/2012

So you are advocating world starvation?

[Earthling1125]

03:29 PM on 05/14/2012

Don't be absurd. If we all switched to a plant-based diet we'd have MORE than enough food to go around. Most grain (corn, soy, etc.) is grown for animal feed and non-consumable products - NOT human consumption. If we put all that land, plus the land used for grazing (and stop cutting down rainforests to create more pastureland), back into production for human food, we'd actually have a SURPLUS of food!

Humans don't need to eat meat - they just like to.

[karen lyons kalmenson]

07:18 AM on 05/13/2012

respect all cetaceans
their world is the sea.
the sea is ours only
to visit, and in manner
harmlessly.

[mamacat]

04:50 AM on 05/13/2012

The Blue Whale population is a very interesting case study. From estimates of over 300,000 a few hundred years ago, their population is maybe around 10,000 today, although that number represents a significant increase over how many there were when mass killing of whales was finally stopped.

Blue Whales are the largest animal ever to live on this planet, about twice as large as the largest dinosaur that ever lived. They can be found migrating off the coast of California, and some of them give birth in the Sea of Cortes.

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/blue-whale/