How many blue whales are there?
When whaling was at its peak in the early nineteenth century, the Blue Whale was safe from the Captain Ahabs of this world simply because they were far too big and far too fast to hunt in rowing boats with hand harpoons. But by the end of the nineteenth century and with the invention of the harpoon gun and steam ships, the size that had made them too much for earlier whalers, now made Blue Whales a major draw because of the amount of oil that could be extracted from a single whale. The slaughter peaked in 1931 when over 29,000 Blue Whales were killed in one season. Experts believe that as much as 99% of the entire Blue Whale population was killed through whaling until it was made illegal in 1986. Though real figures are difficult to come by, especially for solitary Blue Whales, which show a reluctance to approach shipping, there are an estimated 5-10,000 Blue Whales in the Southern Hemisphere, and only around 3-4,000 in the Northern Hemisphere. However, other figures highlight that the
