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| Humpback whales hunt by encircling a group of fish then diving underwater. Then you see hundreds of scared herrings jumping out of the water, followed by humpbacks with wide open mouths. Photo Espen Bergersen's For more great photos from Espen check out http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/20641787 and Espen Bergersen's website |
They would be completely wrong, this is exactly what happened in the Clyde just over a century ago, here’s a quote from those days.
In the 1870s the Clyde winter herring fishery was the most important in Scotland, with boats from as far away as the east coast coming to take part in the annual catch. Fishers were not the only ones to take advantage of the multitudes of herring, as P. Wilson describes in 1887-
“The banks are at times the scene of lively interest when visited by a shoal of whales. On a recent occasion, as the sun was setting, a shoal of at least forty whales in pairs and hundreds of porpoises began to play, and went circling round the margin of the bank displaying their huge fins and arched backs, gracefully plunging and again reappearing a short distance off. The porpoises, in wild leaps went several feet sheer out of the water, and then dived apparently in search of their prey. In this manner the flock of whales and porpoises went circling round for at least a distance of ten miles.”
While Norway has had a chequered history regards Whale hunting.
Its Inshore fisheries management has been streets ahead of Scotland’s feeble
attempts to responsibly manage its inshore fisheries. The Scottish Governments
record over the past 28 years has been one of constantly giving in to the most
destructive forms of fishing. Imagine allowing decades of Scallop Dredging
and Bottom Trawling right through known Herring spawning grounds. We have
witnessed in Scotland decades of irresponsible fisheries management with governments
ignoring their legal responsibility to manage a common resource for
all Scotland people.
The scenes you see in Espen Bergersens brilliant photos could once
again be seen in the Clyde within a few decades, You just need some fish for
Humpback Whales to hunt and for that its
simple, you need the right politicians to make the right decisions.
It’s not in mans capabilities to manage nature, the only
species that needs managed is man
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| Humpback whales have gathered to feed close to shore in Norway. Hundreds of the massive mammals were first spotted near Tromso in 2010 and the event has grown each year, photographer Espen Bergersen, has captured the marine mammals on camera. Espen's photos |
