In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, intensive European whaling and walrus hunting took place in the waters around Spitsbergen, with many stations on the coasts of the islands.
This hunt was carried out in or along the edge of the pack ice and was, therefore, very sensitive to changes in the ice situation and the climate. When, around 1650, climate and ice distribution changed whales moved to the north. The whaling stations in the south of Spitsbergen were abandoned whereas stations in the north were still functioning. When, later, the ice situation deteriorated in the north as well, these stations were abandoned, too. Shore whaling changed into pelagic whaling. As a result of these whaling and walrus hunting activities, two very numerous large mammals were largely depleted and they almost disappeared from the Spitsbergen waters.
The pelagically feeding Greenland Right Whale and the bentically feeding Walrus, whose initial stocks are estimated at 46,000 Greenland Right Whales respectively 25,000 Walrus, were eliminated. This elimination caused a major shift in the food web. The plankton feeding seabirds and polar cod strongly increased because of the extinction of the Greenland Right Whale. The eider ducks and bearded seals increased because of the decrease of the number of Walruses. This development has led to the enormous amount of seabird rookeries on the West Coast of Spitsbergen.
For more information, please contact prof.dr. L. Hacquebord or F. Steenhuisen
Principal researcher: prof.dr. L. Hacquebord
