Of Whales and Men

Southern Right whales visit South Africa in winter to mate and give birth. During Summer the migrate to their feeding grounds in Antarctic seas where they feast on tiny planktonic copepods that they sieve from the water with their baleen. These passive marine mammals have always attracted interest. For thousands of years the Khoisan people valued stranded whales for their gift of meat and oil, and even used the whale bones as a frame for their shelters. Whaling started on these shores in 1785 but the uncontrolled slaughter was not sustainable. The Southern Right became endangered and in 1931 the Southern Right became the first whale to be protected. Since whaling stopped, the South African stock has gradually increased at 7% a year to 2000 whales. This is a mere 10% of the pre-whaling population and it will be many years before they are out of danger.