Word: sei
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...caught without endangering the species. Officially, the International Whaling Commission is supposed to preserve the species by setting quotas, but the organization has no effective enforcement power, and it routinely sets quotas that will satisfy the major whaling nations. Japan has the right to catch 15,700 sperm, sei and fin whales this year, almost half the world total (the few remaining blues and humpbacks are now "protected"). Last spring, the U.S. and Japan made a separate arrangement for the U.S. to monitor Japanese catches, but even now the U.S. observers will see only about 3,000 of the dead...
...rich Antarctic waters continue to be based on the average amount of oil in a blue whale. Blues are the largest whales, often growing to 100 ft. in length and weighing 150 tons. Each contains as much oil as two fin whales, 2½ humpback whales or six sei whales. The net effect of measuring quotas in oil rather than individual species is that whaling expeditions kill everything that spouts; even the smallest whale has value. This year's Antarctic quota of 2,700 "blue-whale units" will cause more little whales to be killed than ever...