On December 1, 2015, the journal Marine Mammal Science published an article entitled Status of the World’s Baleen Whales. This review was funded by the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission. Its abstract reads as follows:
Another Baby Killer Whale!
Dec 17
There’s more good new on Pacific Northwest Southern Resident Killer Whale front. An eighth baby has been born. A press release from the Center for Whale research explains:
“Mother is J28, a twenty-two year old female Southern Resident Killer Whale in the Pacific Northwest.
The Center for Whale Research says the seventh calf in 12 months was born into the endangered Southern Resident killer whale population.
Russell F. Smith III, is the NOAA Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Fisheries, and U.S. commissioner to the International Whaling Commission. He published the following statement:
“The United States is disappointed with the Japanese government’s decision to restart lethal research whaling in the Southern Ocean early next year. We continue to believe that it is unnecessary to kill whales in order to conduct scientific research necessary to promote the management objectives of the IWC. We note that while Japan submitted its research proposal to the International Whaling Commission’s (IWC’s) Expert Panel and Scientific Committee (SC) for review and comment, Japan has decided to proceed with the hunt without addressing several significant issues raised in their reports. One of the key issues raised during both the Expert Panel and SC meetings was that Japan had not justified the need for lethal whaling to carry out its research. Unfortunately, rather than giving itself time to modify its research program to fully address these issues, Japan has decided to restart its program now.