Whaling in Iron Age to post-medieval Scotland

Cetacean remains have been recovered from archaeological sites all over Europe, but are especially abundant in Scotland. These remains originate from all periods and have often been worked into artefacts or tools, including chopping blocks, plaques, combs, pegs, snecks and perforated vertebral epiphyseal discs. It still remains unclear which species were exploited and to what extent active whaling was undertaken in the region. To address these questions Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) was undertaken on 35 cetacean specimens from five sites in Scotland (Jarlshof, Brough of Birsay, Quoygrew, Deerness and Freswick Links), dating from the Iron Age to the post-medieval period. Furthermore, morphological analysis was performed on the material in order to optimise the ZooMS identifications. A large variety of species were identified, including high numbers of Balaenidae sp and Globicephalinae sp. Comparison with other ZooMS studies in north-western Europe revealed equally high specimen numbers for these species, but also fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), sperm whale (Phy-seter macrocephalus) and humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae). Moreover, one grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus) was identified in the Scottish specimens, adding to an increasing number of specimens indicating that the grey whale was once abundant in European waters. Furthermore, only one specimen of the common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) was identified, despite modern stranding data which suggests this is the most common large whale species in Scottish waters. The large variety of species identified suggests that opportunistic scavenging was likely the primary method of acquiring cetaceans, though historical and ethnographic sources suggest that two distinct forms of active whaling may have occasionally been undertaken. The high number of Globicephalinae specimens from Jarlshof raise the possibility that drive-hunting might have already been undertaken at the site during the Iron Age. View supplementary materials here: Table 1 | Table 2 | Table 3 |

A note on minke whales (Cetacea: Balaenopteridae) in Uruguay: strandings review

The minke whale is the smallest of the living rorquals and is widely distributed in the tropical, temperate and polar waters of both hemispheres. In the western Southwest Atlantic Ocean there are two currently recognised species, the dwarf form of the common minke whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata unnamed subsp. and the Antarctic minke whale B. bonaerensis. All stranding records and collected specimens of minke whale on the coast of Uruguay were reviewed and analysed. Between 1962 and 2018, 33 records were gathered in a non-systematic way, 22 specimens of B. acutorostrata and 11 of B. bonaerensis. It was found that most animals were discovered alive or recently dead and assigned as neonates/young calves. This supports the hypothesis that Uruguayan coasts are part of an important region for reproduction and breeding for the species.

Distribution and Abundance of Cetaceans in Icelandic Waters over 30 Years of Aerial Surveys

Beginning in 1986, 7 aerial surveys covering the coastal waters of Iceland have been conducted up to 2016. In addition, several partial surveys covering portions of the same area and at different times of the year have been flown in the same 30 year time span. We present previously unpublished abundance estimates, corrected to the extent feasible for known biases, for common minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) and harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from some or all of the 2007, 2009 and 2016 surveys. The relative abundance of most species was comparatively low in the spring and fall, and peaked June and July when all of the main surveys have been carried out. An analysis of changes in line transect density as an index of relative abundance from all surveys indicates that common minke whale abundance decreased by 75% after 2001 and has remained at a relatively low level since then. Relative abundance of humpback whales and white-beaked dolphins has increased over the period 1986-2016. We place these observed changes in context with oceanographic and ecosystem changes documented over the same period.