Investigate

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**1. What is whaling?** **Whaling is the hunting of** [|whale] **which can be dated as a human activity to at least 6,000 BC. The evolution of traditional Arctic whaling developed with increasing rapidity by early organized fleets in the 17th century; competitive national whaling industries in the 18th and 19th centuries; and the introduction of factory ships along with the concept of whale "harvesting" in the first half of the 20th century.Modern whaling began in 1946 with the formation of an** [|International Whaling Commission] **(IWC) for its consensus-based emphasis on conservation, resource management, and international cooperative standards. Contemporary arguments for and against whaling are the subjects of ongoing contention.** [|Greenpeace] **and other environmental groups dispute the various claims of scientific research "as a disguise for commercial whaling, which is banned" by the IWC's** [|moratorium] **in 1986.**

**Bibliography:** []

**The current whaling countries are Canada, Caribbean, Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Indonesia, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Russia and United States.
 * 2. How many countries do whaling? **

Bibliography: ** []

People have hunted whales for more than 1,000 years. Whale meat, especially from baleen whales, is still eaten by some people and is also used to make pet foods. Whalebone was at one time used as stiffeners in shirt collars and ladies' corsets. Whale oil is little used today and modern commercial whaling is for food.
 * 3. Why do people catch and kill whales? **
 * They kill whales for whale meat, melted down whale fat(blubber) for fuel, made baleen into fishing rods, carved whale teeth into buttons. Also whale oil is used in soap, candles and machine oil.

Bibliography: Why are whales vanishing? -By Isaac Asimov The book of Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises -By Lionel Bender ** []

**The Bowhead whale was hunted almost to extinction in the 1800s, largely for its baleen, which can grow to more than 3metres. It is thought that the current population level are around 7,000 from around 30,000 in the 1850s. Blue whales were nearly wiped out by hunting. At the peak in 1931, 29,000 whales were killed in one season, from a pre-hunting total population of around 200,000. The Humpback whale was one of the first species to suffer severe decline from whaling. The primary species hunted are the** [|Common Minke Whale] **and** [|Antarctic Minke Whale]**, two of the smallest species of** [|baleen whales]**.
 * 4. Which type of whales get caught the most? **

Bibliography: Whales & Dolphins -By Caroline Bingham Whale -By Vassili Papastavrou Whale Rescue -By Erich Hoyt** []

**5. Who do you think does the whaling?** **Fishermen and whalers.

Bibliography: Common sense told us that.**

6. Is whaling illegal, and if it is, what are the consequences? ** last until whales could build up their numbers. But a few years later, Japan and Norway began hunting Minke whales again. Japan said it was scientific research. Bu after the 'research' was done, the whale meat was sold. Norway said that whale meat is a traditional food in their country, but most of the meat was sold to other countries. Whale hunting is still legal in some counties, but the whalers are limited to the number of whales that they are allowed to hunt. Some whalers still kill more whales than they are allowed. Pollution also kill many whales.
 * 
 * By mid-1900s, most whale product was no longer needed. But people worried that some whale species might become extinct, so countries began to make it illegal to kill whales; Britain stopped whaling in 1963, USA stopped in 1972 and Australia stopped in 1978. In 1986, a worldwide moratorium made it illegal to kill whales for money. The moratorium was to

Bibliography: Whales- By Elizabeth Laskey **
 * What is a whale?- By Bobbie Kalman & Heather Lerigne **




 * 7. Which type of whales are most endangered?**

Extinct ||~ Critically Endangered ||~ Endangered ||~ Vulnerable ||~ Lower Risk (Conservation Dependent) ||~ Lower risk (Near Threatened) ||~ Lower Risk (Least Concern) || None* || * [|Blue Whale] > (ANTARCTIC)[|[52]] > //Northwest Pacific population// > (cf. //Northeast Pacific population//)[|[53]] || * [|Blue Whale][|[54]] > musculus //subspecies - Atlantic population//[|[60]] > //Northeast Pacific population//[|[64]]
 * [|Gray Whale]
 * [|Fin Whale][|[55]]
 * [|North Pacific Right Whale][|[56]]
 * [|North Atlantic Right Whale][|[57]]
 * [|Sei Whale][|[58]] || * [|Beluga][|[59]]
 * [|Blue Whale]
 * [|Sperm Whale][|[61]] || * [|Antarctic Minke Whale]
 * [|Arnoux's Beaked Whale]
 * [|Baird's Beaked Whale]
 * [|Blue Whale](North Pacific)[|[62]]
 * [|Bowhead Whale][|[63]]
 * [|Gray Whale]
 * [|Northern Bottlenose Whale]
 * [|Southern Bottlenose Whale]
 * [|Short-finned Pilot Whale]
 * [|Southern Right Whale][|[65]] ||  || * [|Minke Whale][|[66]]
 * [|Dwarf Sperm Whale][|[67]]
 * [|Pygmy Right Whale]
 * [|Long-finned Pilot Whale]
 * [|Humpback Whale][|[68]]
 * [|Pygmy Sperm Whale][|[69]]
 * [|Melon-headed Whale]
 * [|Gray Whale] (species)[|[66]] ||
 * Atlantic population of [|Gray Whale] went extinct in late 17th Century. It is not listed as a part of IUCN's red list. [|[45]]


 * Bibliography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling **

**8. Design and make a poster informing people about whaling.**


 * 9. Judge our poster on how informative it has been.**