The Soviet Union once hunted endangered whales to the brink of extinction

Enlarge / Soviet whalers equipped with mechanized harpoons in 1960. Marka/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Every year, approximately 13 million people go whale watching around the world, marveling at the sight of the largest animals to ever inhabit the Earth. It's a dramatic reversal from a century ago, when few people saw a live whale. The creatures are still recovering from massive industrial-scale hunting that nearly wiped out several species in the 20th century.

The history of whaling shows how humans wreaked reckless havoc on the ocean, but also how they can change course. In my new book, Red Leviathan: The Secret History of Soviet Whaling, I describe how the Soviet Union played a central role in both this deadly industry and the scientific research that helps us understand whale recovery.

[embedded content] A humpback whale bursts into Boston Harbor on August 2, 2022. Whaling has drastically reduced the number of humpback whales, but the species is recovering under international protection.

From wood to steel and from bad to worse

In the early 20th century, it seemed that whales could get a reprieve from years of hunting. The era of whaling from sailboats, described in such memorable detail by Herman Melville in Moby-Dick, had nearly wiped out slow-moving, fat species like right and bowhead whales and had also caused significant damage to sperm whales. /p>

In the 1800s, American whalers sailed unrestrained and unimpeded to every corner of the world's oceans, including the waters around Russia's Siberian Empire. There, Tsarist officials watched in helpless rage as the Americans slaughtered the whales that many of the region's indigenous peoples relied on.

In the 1870s, petroleum began to replace whale oil as a fuel. With few catchable whales left, the industry seemed to be coming to an end. But whalers have found new markets. Using hydrogenation, a chemical process that can be used to turn liquid oils into solid or semi-solid fats, manufacturers have been able to turn smelly whale products into odorless margarine for human consumption.

Around the same time, the Norwegians invented the explosive harpoon, which killed whales more effectively than hand-thrown versions, and the stern hold, which allowed whale carcasses to be processed aboard ships. ships. In addition to diesel engines and steel hulls, these technologies have allowed whalers to target previously untouched species in once inaccessible places, such as Antarctica.