Humpback whales that migrate to Tonga were hunted to the brink of extinction less than 20 years ago. The King of Tonga banned whaling in 1978.Humpback whales that migrate to Tonga were hunted to the brink of extinction less than 20 years ago.In the 1950s and early 1960s commercial catches of Area V humpback whales were carried out by shore stations in New Zealand and Australia and boat based operations (legal and illegal) in Antarctic waters.
This period of intense legal and illegal exploitation precipitated a sudden and severe population collapse.Whaling operations in New Zealand and Australia stopped because there were too few whales migrating past New Zealand andeastern Australia and the industry was no longer commercially viable.
By 1963 when commercial catches ended, the estimated pre-exploitation abundance of 10,000 animals had been reduced to fewer than 500. Those passing through New Zealand waters en route to Tonga and other Pacific Island states were estimated to have been reduced to fewer than 250 animals.Simple back calculations from recent survey work by the South Pacific Humpback Whale Project indicate that only 60 or so whales would have likely returned to Tonga to breed in 1966.Of these fewer than 15 would have been reproductivelv-active females.
In 1967 International Whaling Commission agreed to protect humpback whales from commercial whaling worldwide.In the early 1990s its was discovered that then Soviet Union was continuing harvesting 45,767 humpbacks, an unknown portion of which were Area V humpbacks whales.Humpback whales were also hunted in Tonga since the turn of the century. Tongan whalers used open boats, hand harpoons and dynamite. Compared to the above commercial catches the Tongan whaling was small scale, with annual catches prior to the early 1960's probably not exceeding 30-40 whales.
Although this whaling was on a small scale it undoubtedly had a significant impact on the already over-harvested humpback breeding population found seasonally in Tongan waters.In addition, Tongan whaling was concentrated on newly-born calves and their mothers, targeting the most important and vulnerable part of this severely-depleted population.The King of Tonga banned whaling in 1978. Protection of whales and other marine mammals is also provided for in Tonga's Fisheries Regulations. It is noted that without this whaling ban the development of whale watching would not have been viable.Humpback whales found in Tonga and the wider South Pacific were hunted to the brink of extinction less than 20 years ago. |
