Whales and Whaling Quick Facts
- Whaling has been carried out in the Southern Ocean since the late 1800s. In the early days, the whales were hunted from small boats using hand held harpoons.
- Whales breathe through a blowhole on top the their head. This allows a whale to breathe whilst swimming at the surface of the water. The blowhole closes when the whale dives.
- Blue whales are the loudest animals on Earth. Their call reaches levels up to 188 decibels. The Blue whale is louder than a jet, which reaches only 140 decibels.
- Sperm whales are carnivores; they mainly eat squid and cuttlefish. A male can consume as much as 1,500 kg of food daily.
- It is extremely difficult to make accurate population counts of whales. This is because whales are now so rare and widely dispersed.
- The killing of whales by commercial whaling activities is the single largest human impact to the Southern Ocean ecosystem.
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