A GIANT question mark casts a shadow
over Norway's whale census, Recent
revelations in a confidential document
from the Norwegian Computing Centre
and the University of Oslo disclose
errors in the software used to estimate
the North Atlantic minke whale population. Norway is in favour of a resumption of whale killing. The erroneous figures were used in 1993 to
justify the country's defiance of an
international ban on whale culling
imposed by the International Whaling
Commission (IWC).
Similar inaccuracies have also been
detected in Norway's mathematical
calculations which form the basis of
the software program. A damning
indictment comes from Justin Cook, a
member of the iwc's scientific committee, who says that when he tried to
reproduce Norway's minke whale population estimates, he got a lower figure 6f
53,000 whales compared with the
official figure of 86,700. "The effect of
reduced, population estimates would
be to reduce the possible catching
levels," he says.
We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.
Comments are moderated and will be published only after the site moderator’s approval. Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name. Selected comments may also be used in the ‘Letters’ section of the Down To Earth print edition.