Norway: The Whales Of August

The eight scientists aboard a sealing boat off the island of Jan Mayen, 640 miles west of Norway, peered through their binoculars last week and were elated. Arching through the icy waters were ten blue whales, the largest creatures on earth. Blues once flourished in the Norwegian and Barents seas but almost vanished from the area after intensive hunting by Norway and the Soviet Union.

Now a three-week whale count by 30 scientists confirms that the giants are once again venturing into their former habitat. One explanation may be a 1966 hunting ban that perhaps saved blue whales from extinction.