Whale populations at risk

Minke whales used to be unprofitable to catch

By CNN's Joe Clancy

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Six whale populations considered to be particularly under threat are on the agenda of the International Whaling Conference in London.

These are the North Pacific minke whale, the Southern Hemisphere minke whale, the North Atlantic minke whale, the sperm whale, bryde's whale, and gray whale.

It warns of "dire consequences" for one genetically distinct population of minke whale in the North Pacific as a result of Japanese catches.

In the southern hemisphere, it says that the rare dwarf minke whale continues to be taken by Japanese whalers.

MORE STORIES Iceland battles to continue whaling   Whaling ban under threat

And it says Norwegian whalers are still removing hundreds of animals each year from the North Atlantic under 'objection' to the 1982 moratorium, adding that the whalers target the larger, often pregnant females.

Up until the 1930s, no one in the whaling industry bothered with minke whales because their larger relatives, such as finbacks and blues, were plentiful and brought a higher profit per catch.

However, when populations of the larger whales became seriously depleted, with several species brought close to extinction, attention turned to minkes.

In 1949, Norway alone caught 4,000 of this species. By the time the IWC moratorium on commercial whaling was passed in 1982, minkes were the most important species for whaling in both the North Atlantic and the Antarctic.

The IWC will also be focusing on the sperm whale, which the Japanese continued hunting last year.

One of the most familiar of the world's whales, the sperm whale is featured in Herman Melville's book Moby Dick. It is easily recognised by its huge head and row of large white teeth in just the narrow lower jaw.

The sperm whale was heavily hunted in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, but is now protected. However, because whalers mainly targeted the larger males, the balance between the sexes has been badly distorted.

Discussions over the bryde's whale are set to focus on the confusion over its status and population estimates.

The IWC says what is currently called a 'bryde's whale' may comprise several different species and population divisions.

It adds that the "pygmy" form reported from the Java Sea and Solomon Islands is likely to be designated as a new species in the near future.

"As a result, Japan could be removing animals from depleted populations and simply cannot be sure of the status of the population or populations being targeted during its scientific' whaling operations in defiance of the IWC," the group said.

The IWC considers the Western Pacific population of gray whales as "one of the most endangered baleen whale stocks in the world," numbering only a few hundred animals.

It also says the Eastern North Pacific population has shown a slow recovery since commercial whaling of gray whales was banned in 1940 and the population is estimated to number around 26,635 animals.

But it adds that in the last year, large numbers of emaciated gray whales have been found dead, and the calving rate has fallen.

"The reasons for this ongoing mass die-off event are still unclear but it is possible that food availability has crashed through climate change or over-fishing, or perhaps a combination of both -- proving disastrous for a species that migrates vast distances to feed."