An Australian scientist has attacked the research output of the Japanese scientific whaling programme. Nick Gales, of the Australian Antarctic Division, told ABC Radio Japanese claims that whales were getting leaner were flawed (partial transcript).

“[The paper] claims on measurements of a little over 4,500 whales that the amount of blubber over the 18 year programme decreases,” he says (audio file).

“They then claim that the Antarctic minke whales that they did the study on must be competing with other whales, like humpback whales that are increasing in numbers, for a limited amount of krill. We think the science behind showing those trends is very weak at best and the explanation they put forward is extremely simplistic.”

Last week the Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research (along with Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology and the University of Oslo) published a paper in the journal Polar Biology claiming:

Regression analyses clearly showed that blubber thickness, girth and fat weight have been decreasing for nearly 2 decades.

…

The direct interpretation of this substantial decline in energy storage in terms of food availability is difficult, since no long-term krill abundance series is available. However, an increase in the abundance of krill feeders other than minke whales and a resulting decrease in the krill population must be considered as a likely explanation.

This was widely seen in the Australian press as designed to vindicate the Japanese whaling programme (eg SMH, The Age). The only Japanese coverage of the criticisms I can find is this recycled AFP story, any pointers to more enlightening copy is welcome in the comments.

Image: NOAA