On a journey back in history, we find whales drawn in caves in Norway back in 2,200 BC. According to data found in Alaska, it is known that the Eskimos used to hunt whales 3,400 years ago.
Literature has immortalized whaling through Moby Dick, the brilliant novel by Herman Melville, in which a group of hunters tries to catch a big white whale that ends up defeating them without even losing its freedom -the most precious asset for all cetaceans.
Towards 1725, the first whale expedition set out from Dundee (Scotland) towards the southern Atlantic. Whaling, sea lion and seal hunting by foreigners -especially English and Americans- in our seas became intense after 1750. It all started in Malvinas and continued towards the Patagonian shores up to Cape Horn, Staten Island and other islands. They always proceeded with complete impunity.
It is estimated that before whaling, there were about 100,000 specimens of right whale. As a result of the slaughter and the slow recovery rhythm of the group (as females bear a calf every three years), the right whale is the most endangered of the eleven whale species existing today.
The species has been protected since 1935. In 1946, the International Whaling Commission was created and most whaling nations joined it. In 1982, the members of the Whaling Commission finally signed a moratorium in England which prohibited whaling worldwide from 1985 to 1990.
As a result of this measure, the number of whales could be verified and a possible increase in their population could be estimated. If the products obtained from whales have their substitutes on solid ground, we wonder why this terrible irrational slaughter that exterminates the sea giants still takes place.
Is it not worth enjoying, watching or listening to their greatness?
Curious and calm, the southern right whales swim slowly across the cold waters of the southern seas at a maximum speed of 9 to 11 kilometers per hour. Very slowly. Nevertheless, this is an ideal speed for tourists to take pictures and videos of their movements and jumps.
