A Whale Species Population In Alaska Has Grown by Nearly 15 Times Since the ‘70s
Since 1978, Craig George has counted bowhead whales for an eight-week stretch each year from mid-April to June. During that period, whales migrate past Point Barrow, the northernmost point of all U.S. territories and where George stations himself with the group he works with, the North Slope Borough. Since George and his colleagues started counting the whales more than 30 years ago, he estimates there are now up to 15,000 whales, compared to 1,200 the first year the North Slope Borough started counting.
Commercial whaling surged from the years 1848 to 1915, and amazingly some of the whales alive today might have been alive during that time and dodged whalers — it’s possible the animal can live up to 200 years. Whalers wiped out about 1,000 whales during that period, but the species seems to be recovering.
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This story was originally featured in Issue 06 of the Goodnewspaper.
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