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Onboard the M/V Arctic Sunrise

Day Sixty-nine - 17 January 2000

"Meet The Science Team"

How many whales are there in the Southern Ocean? How do they behave around each other? Are they attracted to ships? No one knows, but Greenpeace wants to find out, which is why the Arctic Sunrise has a four member science team. Their job is to add to the scientific body of knowledge about whales in the Southern Ocean, and to show that good whale research does not have to kill.

The Greenpeace scientists have been counting whale populations as the Sunrise moves through the Southern Ocean. They estimate the total number of whales in a designated area by the number of whales they spot on the surface. It's not an exact science because changes in weather conditions, the observers' level of expertise, their height above sea level and the methodology used all affect the count. We are attempting to minimize these variables by having the same science team employ the same methodology from the same ship in the same area of the Southern Ocean for the second consecutive year.

"Science knows so little about the whales of the Southern Ocean," says Dutch scientist Mirijke De Boer who leads the science team on the M/V Arctic Sunrise. "It is extremely difficult to study animals that spend most of their lives under water - often far from land, and the harsh conditions of the Southern Ocean makes this research even more challenging."

In addition to the whale survey, the science team is also taking plankton samples for analysis; photographing whales for identification and tracking; studying debris at sea to learn about ocean currents; recording water temperature and salinity; and surveying birds and other marine mammals.

Filtering plankton out of the sea water for later research.

They have also brought a hydrophone (a device for recording underwater noises), which they hope to use to study the sounds whales use to communicate with each other. The methodology used by the Greenpeace team follows the same protocols used by the Australian government's Antarctic Division - which also does yearly whale surveys in the Southern Ocean. Greenpeace will submit its findings to the International Whaling Commission. The data will compliment the research done by the Antarctic Division.

One theory being investigated by both the Antarctic Division and Greenpeace is that minke whales are attracted to ships. This would mean current population estimates are over-inflated because they were made under the assumption that minke whales are evenly distributed throughout a search area when instead, the whales may actually be congregating around the observation ship. While there is not yet enough data to reach a final conclusion, it is known that some other species of whales, humpbacks for example, are very curious about ships and will come right up to small boats just to take a look at them.

Of course, both organizations use non-lethal research methods. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) and scientists around the world have repeatedly condemned the only lethal whale "research" program in existence, which is conducted illegally by Japan as a thin cover for their whaling industry.

Having our own research team helps Greenpeace keep the whalers honest about their "science". After being confronted with Greenpeace research at this year's IWC meeting, the Japanese government was forced to admit that they had also encountered less minke whales then expected last year. The Japanese whalers reported that 160 of the 200 female whales they killed last year were pregnant.

Japan's illegal hunt focuses on minke whales, the smallest of the baleen whales, because they are the only species that has not yet been decimated by commercial whaling.

Minke whales grow to about ten meters in length. They are baleen, or toothless, whales. Their diet in the Southern Ocean consists mostly of krill (a kind of tiny shrimp) and plankton which they catch by filtering sea water. But many questions remain about minke whales because they has been comparatively little research conducted on this species.

Whales are generally divided into two groups. The baleen category includes the blue, fin, bowhead, sei, right, gray, Bryde's, humpback and minke whales (in order of size). The other group is the toothed whales which includes sperm whales, all of the beaked whales, and all species of dolphins and porpoises. That's right, dolphins are really a kind of whale and Orcas are actually the largest species of dolphin.

For the most part, baleen whales are larger then other whales. Exceptions include sperm whales, some of which are larger than gray whales, and orcas, which are about the same size as minke whales.

As Marijke says, "Our understanding of the distribution, behavior, and much else of the lives of the world's whales is changing all the time as new information comes to light. Right now, we do not even know how many species exist. Hopefully Greenpeace's ongoing non-lethal research will help convince governments that it is time to stop whaling and start protecting."

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Listening for whale songs