70th International Whaling Commission
Press release n°1
Today, the 70th plenary meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) opened in Hobart, Tasmania (Australia). Within the animal kingdom, whales have the exclusive privilege of benefiting from a global convention, which demonstrates their biological, economic, social, and cultural importance. Whales have fed and lit humanity to the point of near extinction. Today, they are survivors and immortal legends. It is high time to recognize their key role and their value in ecosystems.
The services provided by whales have been highlighted by Craig Smith, a professor of oceanography at the University of Hawaii. As early as 1987, he demonstrated the fertility of whale carcasses on the ocean floor and their usefulness for biodiversity. Robin des Bois helped to disseminate this work in the report “On Whales and their Usefulness,” published in 2009, and in the press release “Fish Eat Whales” from 2011 (1). In 2016 and 2018, the IWC passed two resolutions calling on the Scientific Committee to conduct further research into the positive contributions of whales to ecosystems—a real break with the negative discourse of whaling nations, which systematically accuse whales of depleting fish stocks.
Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) in the Azores © Wayne and Pam Osborn
A report on “the contribution of whales in supporting marine ecosystem services” (2) will be presented in Hobart. As examples, it recalls the role of whales as ecosystem engineers. They alter habitats through their repetitive diving and surfacing cycles. This vertical mixing favours the distribution of nutrients, oxygen, and heat among the different layers of the water column. During their migrations from highly productive areas such as the Arctic and Antarctica, whales stimulate plankton production in low-productivity oceans through their excretions, placental material, and, in some cases, their carcasses. When they are not hunted or killed by other human activities, whales which have a life expectancy of 100 years or more store substantial amounts of carbon over the long term, for example, bowhead whales, who can live up to 200 years. After death, whale carcasses act as natural carbon sinks when they lie at depths of 1,000 metres or more. The carcasses are also oases that enrich the deep seabed and, over the long term, enable the development of specialised ecosystems. The report’s authors initially focused their research on humpback whales in south-eastern Alaska. They estimate that through the nutrient cycle alone, humpback whales increase the productivity of local fisheries by 5.9 million US$. The authors point out that the positive roles played by whales are currently excluded from economic assessments, which leads to systematic underinvestment in their conservation.
The report recommends that the IWC, on the one hand, organise a practical, interdisciplinary workshop bringing together ecologists, economists, and modelers to validate and improve the methodology, and, on the other hand, establish a formal working group to coordinate the studies and extend them to other species and other areas of the world’s oceans. The target date for this work could be the next IWC meeting, to be held in two years, though it cannot be ruled out that its complexity might delay this deadline. The authors wish the findings of this technical work to be presented in clear, usable terms for decision-makers. It is likely, though not certain, that the Hobart meeting will respond favourably to these recommendations, subject to the availability of funding. The Scientific Committee would like similar research to be carried out into the role of dolphins and porpoises in the functioning of ecosystems.
Adipicola pacifica, bivalve in densities of 100,000 individuals/ m² on a sperm whale skeleton
© Fujiwara et al. 2007
(1) “On Whales and their Usefulness”, version updated in April 2010
“Fish Eat Whales “, July 2011
(2) “The contribution of whales in supporting marine ecosystem services”, Marcello Hernández-Blanco, Heidi Pearson, Javier Rodríguez-Fonseca, Robert Costanza and Felipe Gandra, March 2026
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