Some History On Whales And Whale Watching Channel Islands

By Freida Michael


Whale watching is only possible at specific times in the calendar year, and only in a select number of places in the world. Yet it represents one of the most special events in the marine tourism agenda. Whale watching Channel Islands is one opportunity to engage in this activity. If you are in the Channel Islands in Oxnard CA at the appropriate time of the year, you should investigate this event.

It may not be a familiar fact to laypeople, but whales are also mammals, and not only that, they are the largest mammals in the animal kingdom. They are therefore not fish at all. They breathe through lungs, like other mammals do, and they are warm-blooded. Fish, on the other hand, breathe using gills and are mostly cold-blooded.

The gills of a fish allow water to pass through them continuously as the fish swims. Not having gills, a whale is unable to do this. This is why it frequently surfaces to inhale its next supply of fresh air. It breathes through its blowhole or spout. The latter is positioned on top of its massive head. This is how the trademark spray of seawater is formed when it surfaces or breaches - as it exhales through its spout, seawater is blasted upwards in a visible explosion.

Once it has exhaled or spouted, it inhales new air and then dives beneath the surface again. Whales can swim to extreme depths and also stay underwater for long periods of time. Yet it must surface again at some stage to breathe, in the same way that people cannot stay underwater indefinitely either.

The key threat to whale populations in the world has always been hunting by human seafarers. The traditional name of this practice is whaling. It was a more frequent activity in previous centuries but nowadays it is illegal almost everywhere. Japan still asserts that their annual hunting expedition is in the interests of scientific research, even though it is vehemently opposed by observers. Japan remains the most notable exception to the modern attitude of prohibition, though.

Traditional hunting methods usually involve a device known as a harpoon. This is a specialized spear-type implement which is launched from the ship or boat. In older times, it was literally thrown from a small boat or dinghy which would be rowed alongside the breaching animal. Because the animal must surface regularly, the hunters would wait in anticipation of its next breach.

Modern harpoon technology involved explosives or electric shocks, and the harpoons were launched from the whaling ship with great force by a mechanized cannon. The harpoon would either penetrate the whale's body and electrocute it, or its grenade component would explode in the whale's body and mortally injure or kill it.

The effect of whaling on whale numbers was profound, and whales are now an endangered species. Their reproduction is particularly slow. Larger whale species sometimes have a gestation period of about two years. Japan simply refuses to stop all whaling expeditions, and Japanese vessels hunt a pre-approved number of animals every year. Other countries, however, have banned whaling entirely. If you get the chance to watch the whales, it is worth your while to take it.




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