Editing Cetacea (section)

=== Whaling ===
{{Main|Whaling|History of Whaling|Dolphin drive hunting}}
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| alt1 = Mother and calf minke whales are pulled through the rear of a Japanese research ship.
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| alt2 = A dolphin caught in a drive hunt is transported away by a forklift.
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Whaling is the practice of hunting whales, mainly baleen and sperm whales. This activity has gone on since the [[Stone Age]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-11 |title=Whaling - Commercial, Industrial, Japan {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/whaling |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=[[Britannica Online Encyclopedia]] |language=en}}</ref>

In the [[Middle Ages]], reasons for whaling included their [[whale meat|meat]], [[whale oil|oil]] usable as fuel and the jawbone, which was used in house construction. At the end of the Middle Ages, early whaling fleets aimed at [[baleen whales]], such as [[bowhead whales|bowheads]]. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Dutch fleet had about 300 whaling ships with 18,000 crewmen.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

In the 18th and 19th centuries, baleen whales especially were hunted for their [[baleen]], which was used as a replacement for wood, or in products requiring strength and flexibility such as [[corset]]s and [[crinoline]] skirts. In addition, the [[spermaceti]] found in the [[sperm whale]] was used as a machine lubricant and the [[ambergris]] as a material for pharmaceutical and perfume industries. In the second half of the 19th century, the explosive [[harpoon]] was invented, leading to a massive increase in the catch size.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Large ships were used as "mother" ships for the whale handlers. In the first half of the 20th century, whales were of great importance as a supplier of raw materials. Whales were intensively hunted during this time; in the 1930s, 30,000 whales were killed. This increased to over 40,000 animals per year up to the 1960s, when stocks of large baleen whales collapsed.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Most hunted whales are now threatened, with some great whale populations exploited to the brink of extinction. Atlantic and Korean [[gray whale]] populations were completely eradicated and the [[North Atlantic right whales|North Atlantic right whale]] population fell to some 300–600. The [[blue whale]] population is estimated to be around 14,000.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

The first efforts to protect whales came in 1931. Some particularly endangered species, such as the [[humpback whale]] (which then numbered about 100 animals),<ref>{{Cite web |title=A History of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) |url=https://wwf.panda.org/discover/knowledge_hub/endangered_species/cetaceans/cetaceans/iwc/history |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=wwf.panda.org |language=en}}</ref> were placed under international protection and the first protected areas were established. In 1946, the [[International Whaling Commission]] (IWC) was established, to monitor and secure whale stocks. Whaling of 14 large species for commercial purposes was prohibited worldwide by this organization from 1985 to 2005, though some countries do not honor the prohibition.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
[[File:Whales caught recently.png|left|thumb|300px|Whales caught 2010–2014, by country]]
The stocks of species such as humpback and blue whales have recovered, though they are still threatened. The United States Congress passed the [[Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972]] sustain the marine mammal population. It prohibits the taking of marine mammals except for several hundred per year taken in Alaska. Japanese whaling ships are allowed to hunt whales of different species for ostensibly scientific purposes.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

[[Aboriginal whaling]] is still permitted. About 1,200 pilot whales were taken in the [[Faroe Islands]] in 2017,<ref name="faroe">{{Cite web |url=http://heimabeiti.fo/default.asp?menu=400 |title=Hagar & seyðamark |website=heimabeiti.fo |access-date=2018-04-07 |archive-date=2014-09-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924041544/http://www.heimabeiti.fo/default.asp?menu=400 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and about 900 [[narwhal]]s and 800 [[beluga whale|belugas]] per year are taken in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Siberia. About 150 minke are taken in Greenland per year, 120 gray whales in Siberia and 50 bowheads in Alaska, as aboriginal whaling, besides the 600 minke taken commercially by Norway, 300 minke and 100 sei taken by Japan and up to 100 fin whales taken by Iceland.<ref name="iwcatch">{{Cite web |url=https://iwc.int/total-catches |title=Total Catches |website=iwc.int |language=en |access-date=2018-04-07}}</ref> Iceland and Norway do not recognize the ban and operate commercial whaling. Norway and Japan are committed to ending the ban.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Dolphins and other smaller cetaceans are sometimes hunted in an activity known as dolphin drive hunting. This is accomplished by driving a pod together with boats, usually into a bay or onto a beach. Their escape is prevented by closing off the route to the ocean with other boats or nets. Dolphins are hunted this way in several places around the world, including the [[Solomon Islands]], the [[Faroe Islands]], [[Peru]] and Japan (the most well-known practitioner). Dolphins are mostly hunted for their [[whale meat|meat]], though some end up in [[dolphinarium|dolphinaria]]. Despite the controversy thousands of dolphins are caught in drive hunts each year.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}