Whaling and Whale-watching
On account of its relatively small size and sparse distribution the pygmy right whale has rarely been taken by whalers. A 3.39 metres (11.1 ft) male was taken off South Africa in 1917, and it is likely that a few pygmy rights were taken opportunistically by whalers hunting minke whales. Also a few pygmy right whales are known to have been caught in fishing nets. However these factors are not believed to have had a significant impact on the population.
Most data about pygmy right whales come from individual specimens washed up on coastlines; they are rarely encountered at sea and so they are not the primary subject of any whale watching cruises.
Read more about this topic: Pygmy Right Whale
Famous quotes containing the word whaling:
“The only thing that was dispensed free to the old New Bedford whalemen was a Bible. A well-known owner of one of that city’s whaling fleets once described the Bible as the best cheap investment a shipowner could make.”
—For the State of Massachusetts, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)