Exercise 1.1: BLUE WHALE RECOVERY This exercise is based on the Blue Whale example of section 1.4.3. The population dynamics of the Blue Whale population and predictions of harvest levels have been made using exponential models. The growth rate (R) of the population during the period represented in Figure 1.9 was 0.82, i.e., the population declined by 18% per year. The fecundity of Blue Whale has been estimated to be between 0.06 to 0.14 and natural mortality to be around 0.04. In the absence of harvest, the growth rate of the population would be between 1.02 and 1.10. We want to estimate the time it will take for the Blue Whale population to recover its 1930's level. Assuming a population size in 1963 of 10,000 and a target population size of 50,000, calculate how many years it will take the population to recover: (a) if its growth rate is 1.10, (b) if its growth rate is 1.02. Hint: use the method for calculating doubling time, but with a different factor than 2