were
found
during a seven-day aerial survey along the southern coast
of South Africa, 169 more than the previous year.
"In
all of the southern hemisphere, there are estimated to
be 9,000 to 10,000 right whales at the moment," said
Peter Best, a zoologist with the Mammal Research Institute
at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. "In
the 1920s, their numbers were down to as low as 300 by
some estimates."
Right
whales were so named because they were seen as being the
"right" ones to kill by commercial whalers because
they moved slowly and floated to the surface easily when
killed by harpoons. They started to be officially protected
in 1935, and since then their number has been growing
steadily (Ed Stoddard, Reuters/Planet Ark, Oct. 20).
