AUTHOR=Wilkinson Jeremy , Veyssière Gaëlle , Hughes Nick , Ayre Matthew , Murray Maribeth , Headland Robert , Charles Ryan 

TITLE=Categorisation of the length of bowhead whales from British Arctic whaling records

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1116638

DOI=10.3389/fmars.2023.1116638

ISSN=2296-7745

ABSTRACT=British whalers were the first and last from Europe to hunt bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) commercially from the Arctic whaling grounds of the Greenland Sea (East Greenland-Svalbard-Barents stock) and Davis Strait (East Canada-West Greenland stock). Thus, British Arctic whaling records are unique, as they include both the beginning and the final story of the near extirpation of the species from these waters. By consolidating, cross-checking, and updating the work of numerous colleagues over the years, a database of over 11,000 individual records of British whaling voyages to these grounds between 1725 and 1913 has been established. Through the use of conversion algorithms, it has been possible to derive statistically robust information on the length of the bowheads taken during these whaling voyages. Analysis suggests the length of those caught at these two whaling grounds, Greenland Sea and Davis Strait, were different. There was a higher proportion caught within the Greenland Sea that measured less than 12.5 m (classed as juveniles), whilst the Davis Strait data was skewed towards larger ones, 13 to 14 m long (classed as sexually mature). Furthermore, there was clear evidence that a shift in the distribution of whale length occurred when the whalers extended their hunting grounds to encompass additional regions within the Greenland Sea and Davis Strait in 1814 and 1817 respectively. Prior to expansion, we find that that the vast majority (85%) of the East Canada-West Greenland stock taken from the Davis Strait were of the length that are classified as sexually mature (>13.0 m), whereas 39% of East Greenland-Svalbard-Barents stock taken from the Greenland Sea grounds were of this size. After the enlargement of the whaling grounds, the size distribution shifted with a reduction to 50% of the whales taken from Davis Strait and an increase to 44% of Greenland Sea being categorised as sexually mature. These results show the important information that may be derived from historical whaling records. As substantial changes has occurred in the region, understanding the past through whaling records can help to understand the implications of future climate-induced changes in bowhead whale populations and their habitat.