Whale Populations

[OnlinePoker]

Nature just finished a 3 week, 3 part series on whales and dolphins around the world. I thought I would look up figures to see how healthy the populations are or aren't for the various species. I thought that the International Whaling Commission should have the best estimates to answer my curiosity. Boy, was I wrong. From the IWC page about whale populations:

"Because of the considerable scientific uncertainty over the numbers of whales of different species and in different geographical stocks, the International Whaling Commission decided in 1989 that it would be better not to give whale population figures except for those species/stocks which have been assessed in some detail."

The majority haven't even been estimated in over 10 years. How can this organization, which is tasked with monitoring and protecting these endangered species, make any recommendations with such inaccurate data?

http://www.iwcoffice.org/conservation/estimate.htm

[Vincardog]

1. It could be that they do not want to publish any info that might aid the savage hunters.

[longship]

2. A brilliant document

I watched the trilogy in one night last month on my local PBS. There have been multiple rebroadcasts, often in the dead of night (so to speak).

This is an awesome three hours.

A glad R&