It is the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), the second largest mammal on the planet and so “common” that its species is classified as vulnerable. Yet he is still hunted. The review Ocean invites you to meet him, on the occasion of the release of the fourth issue.
For its fourth issue, the review Ocean continues its discoveries of marine fauna through new and imaginary encounters, extracts of which we publish in the evening edition. This time, it’s the fin whale who confides.
“Suddenly, the pain. Brutal. Intolerable. Unspeakable, even. Like a gigantic, sharp tooth that pierces my skin, sinks into me to burn my bacon, penetrates me ever deeper. Ten, twenty, thirty centimeters? More, surely more (1). I don’t know, and it tears me apart, and it plows my side, and suddenly it explodes inside me and horribly lacerates my insides. Intense pain, ever more unbearable. This has to stop. Pity. Let it stop.
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I didn’t see anything coming. I was walking my long, slender body on the surface of one of the oceans of the vast world that I survey, relaxed like all my people. And very few places put us off. North, South: we sail through cold and temperate waters. Me, I was following my path towards Antarctica, carrying my little one in my belly and it’s been going on for almost a year. This beautiful little one, three times smaller than me and five times lighter, was due to be born in a few weeks. I was climbing peacefully towards a quiet haven, preparing to give birth, to accompany my calf for another six or seven months and give him my milk which I eject into his mouth when he stimulates my breast – I have two, well hidden.
And he needs it, from my good milk, rich and fatty as can be desired, to this glutton who suckles more than 400 liters of it per day! This baby was my only concern at the moment. Taking care of myself by eating copiously remained, until a few seconds ago, my only priority. For him. Taking care of myself already meant taking care of this little one to come. It’s not my first, but among us, mother fin whales, the event is rare. It only occurs, at best, every two years. But you can wait three years between each.
The fastest in the family
And there I caught my breath, after a good twenty minutes spent diving. I had gone down to moderate depth, a good 200 meters when I can exceed 500, tracking down a thick cloud of krill, a school of herring or sardines. My breathing slowly regained its rhythm after the ascent, before stopping again so that I could resume my underwater exploration. Eat, eat again. Because I am what you, the humans who ultimately are not so much, call a gobbler. Because I have to devour around two tonnes of crustaceans and small fish every day from my immense mouth to satisfy my large carcass of more than 20 meters and 60 tonnes.
I had just taken a breath. A powerful geyser addressed to the sky. Is this what betrayed me? And besides, who spotted me? There was indeed this kind of monster following me with its incessant noise… I accelerated to get rid of it, gave all my power, up to 40 km/h to lose it, without really knowing what I was trying to do. to flee.
Because I, the second largest whale – after the blue – and in any case the fastest in the family, I do not fear anything coming from the depths. You call me greyhound of the seas because I swim so quickly and smoothly. And only orcas attack mine when they are young.
A potential centenarian
I passed the threshold. I don’t risk anything in that regard anymore. Far too imposing. I could hope to grow even more, to reach 100 years old or even exceed them, to reach the 27 meters of the most majestic of my species; continue to split the oceans of my V-shaped head, flat on top, gray back and white belly; walking alone or with a friend, from time to time mingling with a larger group, propelled by my powerful caudal fin. And no. And there you have it. End of my story in this unimaginable absurdity and the boiling of my own blood which leaves me in floods.
Around me, the sea turns vermilion red and I no longer even have the strength to slap the surface of the water with my pectorals. I slowly die in front of this enemy that I didn’t see coming. If, at least, I could cry out my pain… If I could, sure that the little two-legged figure which overcomes the front of the noisy monster and moves around, self-congratulating itself for its shot, would be marked forever and his ears would bleed to hear such suffering. She would then stop playing the cannon forever. Unfortunately, my cry is silent. »
(1) The cannon fires a 90 mm explosive harpoon (penthrite), which embeds 1 m into the body of the whale, and explodes, pulverizing spring-loaded spikes into the flesh. The explosion is supposed to kill the animal instantly, but its agony can last several minutes, and sometimes the harpoon does not explode. One or more others must be drawn.
Source: Ifaw (international fund for animal protection).
The Kangei Marufloating butchery
Japan, one of the last three countries in the world to hunt whales for commercial purposes
very officially relaunched its industrial killings in 2024. Since 1986 and despite the global moratorium banning this practice to restore species, some of them very threatened, this country had continued to track large marine mammals supposedly for scientific research. Before freeing himself from the regulation in 2019, leaving the International Whaling Commission to resume tracking. On May 21, 2024, the factory shipKangei Maru
a 113 m long monster, has started its first campaign. It is a gigantic floating butchery for cutting on the high seas, equipped with a winch capable of hoisting a 70-ton cetacean on board, storing more than 600 tons of meat, and which will be accompanied by a flotilla three or four harpoon ships. The latter being guided by the flagship’s onboard drones. The quota that Japan has set for itself by “special permit” for its whale killings is 350 individuals for this year. THE Kangei Maruhopes to contribute to the capture of 200 animals before the end of 2024. Hunting is “limited” in theory to its Exclusive Economic Zone, i.e. nearly 4.5 million square kilometers (the 6 e
largest EEZ in the world).
Targets of the destructive giant: the Bryde’s whale and the Minke’s whale which are the subject of “least concern” in the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the sei whale considered endangered and the fin whale classified as vulnerable.
Iceland has issued a permit to kill 128 whales in 2024, 33 fewer than in 2023; Norway remains the biggest killer of cetaceans in the world with the announced killing of 1,157 whales this year, or 157 more than in 2023. Order
