ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we tell the tale of Sidney Holt, a marine scientist who dedicated his 70-year scientific career to saving whales from extinction. Holt worked with the International Whaling Commission (IWC) for more than 30 years and is recognized as one of the most influential people in the fight to save these majestic marine species. His story begins in the 1960s when as a member of the IWC committee of ‘three wise men’ he tried to impose sustainable catch limits. It covers memorable incidents, from the first catch-quotas being applied to Antarctic whaling through to Holt’s later work securing the global moratorium on commercial whaling, creating whale sanctuaries in the Indian and Southern Oceans, and ultimately helping end high-seas whaling in 2019. Along the way, we reveal insights on a person who did so much to change humanity’s relationship with our planet’s great whales.
