Describing Ocean Life in Olden Days, Researchers Upend Modern Notions of “Natural” Animal Sizes, Abundance
Filed under: Census of Marine Life,Discovery,News & Resources,Press Releases
(Click to enlarge image) Night fishing with a lamp and a net. Byzantine image from the 11th century CE. Source: Galili, E. Rosen.
Before oil hunters in the 1800s harpooned whales by the score, the ocean between east Australia and New Zealand teemed with about 27,000 southern right whales – roughly 30 times as many as today – according to one of several astonishing reconstructions of ocean life in olden days to be presented at a Census of Marine Life conference May 26-28.
At about the same time, pods of blue whales, 18-foot orca and thresher sharks darkened the waters off Cornwall, England. Blue sharks harassed fishermen along the coast, herds of 12-foot harbour porpoise pursued fish upriver, and dolphins regularly played in waters inshore.
From such diverse sources as old ship logs, literary texts, tax accounts, newly translated legal documents and even mounted trophies, Census researchers are piecing together images – some flickering, others in high definition – of fish of such sizes, abundance and distribution in ages past that they stagger modern imaginations.
Appraising modern marine quality through the narrow window of observations over recent decades perpetuates “skewed perceptions,” says Andy Rosenberg of the University of New Hampshire, leader of the Census’ History of Marine Animal Population (HMAP) project and chair of the conference.
He says authoritative new insights based on centuries of information are upending modern notions of “natural” marine life sizes, abundance, habitat use and vulnerability.
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