Hunting Blue Whales

The development of deck-mounted harpoon cannons in the early 20th century fuelled the development of the commercial whaling industry, which severely threatened the survival of the blue whale.

Whaling from 1920-1955 targeted blue whales for their baleen plates and blubber (for oil products like glycerin and soap). Blue whale populations prior to the commercial whaling period were estimated to be around 350 000. With an estimated 99 percent of the population eliminated during the whaling era, the blue whale whale population currently ranges from as low as 5000-10,000  in the world's oceans.

With populations reaching alarming lows, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) issued a moratorium on all hunting of blue whales in 1966. Although this prohibited further commercial whaling, the blue whales remain a devastated species, thought to be the most endangered of the great whales.