Distribution of Whales in the Bering Sea and the Prospects of Development of Whaling Fisheries (Rasprostranenie Kitov v Beringovom More i Vozmozhnosti Razvitiya Kitoboinogo Promysla)

Considerable changes have occurred in the distribution of various species of whales in the Bering Sea. Generally, the numbers of whales in coastal areas have decreased since 1933. The whales have practically ceased to exist off the east coast of Kamchatka (Avachinskiy z., Kronotskiy z., Kamchatskiy z.). The numbers of whales have considerably decreased in Komandorskiye ostrova region. The decrease is especially marked in the population of baleen whales. Similarly, the whale populations have decreased in Olyutorskiy zaliv, though it is still visited by fin whales and sperm whales. The situation is slightly better in Anadyrskiy zaliv, Bering Strait and the Chukchi Sea. New and profitable whaling grounds have been discovered near Rat Islands region. Other profitable whaling areas appeared to be in Andreanof Islands, Fox Islands and Gulf of Alaska regions. In the central part of the Bering Sea the whale population is scattered and little known. More research is needed to establish the distribution pattern and species composition of whales occurring in this vast region. Trans. of Akademiya Nauk SSSR. Ikhtiologicheskaya Komissiya. Trudy Soveshchanii, v12 p112-124 1961, by M. Slessers.