Back from its first postwar cruise to the antarctic was Britain's whaling fleet of three great "factory ships." Instead of the 75,000 tons of whale oil which Britain's Food Ministry had hoped for, they carried 40,000 tons. And they brought other bad news: whales were hardly more numerous than before the war.
British scientists who sailed with the whaling fleet were not surprised. Their explanation: whales are sluggish at multiplication. Females mate once in two years,* produce only one calf at a time. Next year they rest, suckling their calves six to seven months until, in the case of the great blue...
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