Whales increase as whalers decline

3

The number of nations on Earth that still permit commercial whale fishing. But comments from an Icelandic minister to a local newspaper indicate the North Atlantic nation is ready to end the practice, leaving just Japan and Norway as the only commercial whaling nations in the world. The fisheries minister wrote in the Morgunbladid newspaper on March 4 that the practice no longer makes sense. “Why should Iceland take the risk of keeping up whaling, which has not brought any economic gain, in order to sell a product for which there is hardly any demand?” he asked. Once abundant throughout the world’s oceans, many whale species were hunted to the precipice of extinction in the 19th and 20th centuries. With whaling banned since 1986, the ocean’s megafauna are now making a comeback.

2,300

The number of Southern Hemisphere blue whales estimated by the International Whaling Commission in 1998—a fraction of previous numbers, but now a growing population.

661

The heft (in tons) brought in by Norwegian whalers in 2021, according to Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

40,000

The number of humpback whales in Australian waters today, according to the nation’s environment minister. At one point, only 1,500 remained.

360,000

The number of tourists who traveled to Iceland’s North Atlantic waters to whale watch in 2019, according to the AFP, before pandemic restrictions ­curtailed the tourism industry.