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Recently, Ballance et al.(2006) revived the hypothesis that cetaceans were a major force in the structuring of Southern Ocean food webs, and suggested that they are still playing a keystone role even as their loss continues (see also review in Mori and Butterworth 2006), a subject that we herein would like to emphasize. According to this hypothesis, following 60 yr of directed industrial whaling (Tønnessen and Johnsen 1982, Baker and Clapham 2002), the demise of the great whales (blue,