The Blue Whale

Angebote / Angebote:

A harrowingly detailed obituary of the Blue Whale, doomed if not yet exterminated by greed, ignorance, and bureaucratic compromise. Small gets considerably more specific, of course, with histories of whaling and control regulations, vital statistics of the whale, a discussion of the industry's economics, and synopses of the International Whaling Commission's meetings, 1953 to 1965. The grim record is unalleviated: whaling companies trapped by their capital investments, the Commission trapped by its own constitution (each member had effective veto power and the legal position of the whale was never clarified), and conservation attempts rendered useless by the misinformation on which they were based (size limits assumed a far too early sexual maturity in females and discounted the long periods for gestation and weaning). Add to this Dutch, Soviet, and especially Japanese recalcitrance, corporate opportunism (an Onassis enterprise figures here), nonenforcement of such restrictions as existed, and the Commission's prime need to preserve itself, and the picture is complete - complete with 22 tables, 19 plates, 17 figures, and exhaustive notes, all of which would digest to home truths if it were digestible. Determined conservationists may come up with some saving insights for luckier species. Others will want to read Victor Scheffer's Year of the Whale. (Kirkus Reviews)