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Article: Feds reviewing humpback whale endangered status
- Article from:
- Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
- Article date:
- September 28, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2009 Deseret News (Salt Lake City). Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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HONOLULU -- The federal government is considering taking the
humpback whale off the endangered species list in response to data
showing the population of the massive marine mammal has been
steadily growing in recent decades.
Known for their acrobatic leaps from the sea and complex singing
patterns, humpback whales were nearly hunted to extinction for their
oil and meat by industrial-sized whaling ships well through the
middle of the 20th century. But the species has been bouncing back
since an international ban on their commercial whaling in 1966.
"Humpbacks by and large are an example of a species that in most
places seems to be doing very well, despite our earlier efforts to
exterminate ...