15. Blood Typing of Whales (1964)

15. Blood Typing of Whales

(from "Chairman's Report of the Sixteenth Meeting")

The use of various methods of typing the blood of whales, particularly as applied to the stocks of sperm whales and their identification had been raised in the Scientific Committee. Here it had been suggested that the work should be confided to the United States scientist working at Honolulu. The work would need an assistant whose cost - £2,000 - should come from the Commission. In the Finance Committee methods of raising the money required were discussed; one was to divide it in proportion to the sperm whale catches of the various countries, another was to divide it in equal proportions between all countries represented on the Commission.

In both Committees mentioned above and in the final discussion at the plenary meeting the delegates of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics expressed the view that at the present stage it would be better to leave the examination of methods of blood typing to the national research institutes who should exchange their results. In view of this position the Commission, on the Proposition of the Commissioner for Canada seconded by the Commissioner for Japan, unanimously agreed to defer consideration of this subject until the Seventeenth Meeting.