Congratulations Professor Anya Reading!
RST Apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people 2021.
RST Apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people 2021.
Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) were harvested for their oil at King Island, Bass Strait, from 1802 to 1819, by which time they were virtually extinct at that location and have not returned since. Oil cargo statistics have been collated from various secondary sources; in arriving at annual yields, allowance was made for untallied (unquantified) cargoes and a certain amount of waste and onsite use.
Depending on the methods of calculation, between 920 and 1326 tons of oil were produced, almost 750/0 of this in the first three years and 95% by 1807. Some 10 000 adult and sub-adult elephant seals would have had to be slaughtered to generate such yields. The approximate total size of the pristine populations is believed to have been between about 10 000 and 17000, based on the various calculated oil yields and a number of fairly broad assumptions.
Royal Society of Tasmania, RST, Van Diemens Land, natural history, science, ecology, taxonomy, botany, zoology, geology, geography, papers & proceedings, Australia, UTAS Library
Published Papers
The Royal Society of Tasmania acknowledges, with deep respect, the traditional owners of this land, and the ongoing custodianship of the Aboriginal people of Tasmania. The Society pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge that Tasmanian Aboriginal Peoples have survived severe and unjust impacts resulting from invasion and dispossession of their Country. As an institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, the Royal Society of Tasmania recognises Aboriginal cultural knowledge and practices and seeks to respect and honour these traditions and the deep understanding they represent.
On 15 February 2021, the Royal Society of Tasmania offered a formal Apology to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people.
