The federal government on Monday proposed removing most humpback whale populations in the world from the endangered species list, saying the majestic animal’s numbers have dramatically recovered in the nearly 50 years since commercial whaling was banned.
Humpbacks, which can grow to 45 feet long and weigh 50 tons, are known for their complex songs and habit of breaching out of the water more than any other whale species. As their population has grown into the tens of thousands in recent years, they have regularly delighted photographers and whale-watching tours off the California, Washington, Oregon and Hawaii coasts.
“We live in an age where all we hear is terrible news,” said Dan Costa, a professor of biology and humpback whale expert at UC Santa Cruz. “Climate change is scary as hell. We hear about species going extinct. And the fact that something as iconic and amazing as a humpback whale can be taken off the endangered list is a phenomenal thing.”
In the 19th and 20th centuries, humpbacks were heavily hunted, first for whale oil, and then for fertilizer, poultry meal and pet food, which sent their numbers plummeting.
Although most humpback hunting ended worldwide by 1966 with an international agreement, the U.S. government officially banned commercial hunting of all whales in 1971, forcing the closure of the nation’s last whaling station on the Richmond waterfront along the San Francisco Bay, where humpbacks, gray whales and other whales had been killed with harpoon cannons off the Golden Gate and their meat sold for Kal Kan dog food.
The humpback population had declined so significantly that they were among the first animals listed for protection when President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act in 1973.
“They have come back because we stopped killing them. It’s that simple,” said John Calambokidis, a biologist with Cascadia Research, a scientific organization specializing in whale research in Olympia, Washington.
“The fact that they have recovered is a hopeful message. We need to recognize and celebrate our success,” Calambokidis said.
In 1966, the population of humpback whales in the North Pacific Ocean was estimated to be about 1,400. Today it is estimated to have grown to about 21,000.
Worldwide, population estimates are less clear. NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, places it around 100,000.
Under Monday’s proposal by NOAA Fisheries, humpbacks were placed into 14 separate population groups around the world. Of those, 10 were proposed to be declared recovered and removed from the federal list of endangered species, while two groups were proposed to be changed from “endangered” to “threatened,” and two, in the Arabian Sea and off northwest Africa, to be left as “endangered.”
NOAA will take public comments for 90 days and is expected to finalize the change this summer.
Some environmental groups expressed reservations Monday.
“It’s heartening to see that some humpback whales are recovering, but it’s premature to remove protections when so many threats, like climate change and ocean noise, are increasing,” said Miyoko Sakashita, oceans director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Since commercial whaling ended, humpbacks have enjoyed protection, but they’re still drowning in fishing gear and getting hit by ships.”
Even with the endangered status gone, hunting whales will still be prohibited, NOAA officials noted, under the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act, which also protects sea otters, sea lions and other species.
NOAA cited studies Monday that only a small number of whales on the West Coast have died from fishing gear and from being hit by ships — a few dozen in recent decades — not enough to slow their steady 7-percent-per-year population growth.
The recovery of the humpback follows comebacks of other landmark species in recent years, including the bald eagle, brown pelican and peregrine falcon — all of which saw big population increases after the pesticide DDT was banned — and the gray whale, which was removed from the endangered list in 1994.
“It’s a really important success for us as a nation. It’s quite a big deal,” said Donna Wieting, director of NOAA Fisheries’ office of protected resources.
Costa, of UC Santa Cruz, noted that not all whale species have recovered worldwide, despite most countries banning whale hunting decades ago.
The blue whale is on a slower trajectory back to healthy worldwide numbers, he said, and some species, such as northern right whales, exist only in the few hundreds. One reason why humpbacks have recovered more quickly than other whales is that they have a more widely varied diet, not only eating krill, but a range of different fish species, he said.
Other issues, however, could affect humpbacks in the future, such as occasional strikes by ships or climate change, which could reduce the numbers of prey they eat. But for now, he said, the public should celebrate the fact that sometimes environmental laws and public concern work well.
“People get so jazzed about these animals when they see them,” Costa said. “I do. I take my class out every year. In my lifetime, we have gone from ‘you might see a whale’ when you go out in a boat to almost always seeing them.”
Paul Rogers covers resources and environmental issues. Contact him at 408-920-5045. Follow him at Twitter.com/PaulRogersSJMN.
