Researchers reveal true scale of whale slaughter

[Judi Lynn]

Thu 4 Sep 2003

Researchers reveal true scale of whale slaughter
JAMES REYNOLDS ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT

CIENTISTS have underestimated the number of humpback and other great whales that were slaughtered in the North Atlantic at the peak of the whaling industry, latest research shows.

The claims, published in the journal Science, could represent a major setback for countries trying to have a 17-year moratorium on commercial whaling lifted.

Geneticists from Harvard and Stanford universities in the United States set out to assess the accuracy of old whaling records.

They noticed that the International Whaling Commission estimated historic whale populations by extrapolating from the logbooks of whalers. (snip/...)

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