Stopping the Hunt

    In less than 100 years of active whale hunting, the blue whale had almost disappeared. The Antarctic whale population was hit the hardest, because it had most of the largest whales. By the 1960s, there were no longer enough blue whales left to hunt profitably.

    In 1966 the International Whaling Commission (IWC) placed a worldwide ban on hunting blue whales. The IWC was formed in 1946 by the whaling nations. Its goal was to regulate the whaling industry by setting limits on the number of whales that could be killed each year. The IWC also placed bans on hunting whale species that were thought to be threatened.

    In 1982 the IWC asked member nations to phase in an end to commercial whaling by 1986. Several countries at first refused to follow this decision. Iceland finally ended its whale hunts in 1989. Some countries still consider whale meat to be a delicacy. Demand for whale meat by Japanese shoppers supports most of the world's whale hunts. Norway and Japan continue to hunt minke whales. Most whale meat is exported to Japan, where it is considered a luxury food.

   The Blue Whale, however, is no longer legally hunted anywhere on the Planet.