Blue Whale
The Blue Whale is the largest animal known to have ever existed. Growing over 30 meters this beautiful creature swims the oceans across the world. Only 10.000 - 25.000 of these animals are still alive today.
Harpoon cannons
The main threat in the past was direct exploitation, which only became possible in the modern era using deck-mounted harpoon cannons. Blue whale hunting started in the North Atlantic in 1868 and spread to other regions around 1900 after the northeastern Atlantic populations had been severely reduced. The Antarctic and North Atlantic populations were probably depleted to the low hundreds by the time whaling ceased.
Blue whales have been protected worldwide since 1966, although they continued to be caught illegally by former USSR fleets until 1972. The last recorded deliberate catches were off Spain in 1978.
Habitat
