POPULATION LEVELS OF DIFFERENT WHALE SPECIES
AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION
(Sources: IWC; 1994. Oceanus; Spring, 1989. NMFS; Endangered Whales
Status Update; June 1991)
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Population Estimates Listing
Species Original : Latest US / IUCN***
Level : Level Govt.*
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Blue Whale**** 228,000: 14,000 Severely /Endangered
Depleted
Fin Whale**** 548,000: 120,000 Severely /Vulnerable
Depleted
N. Atlantic Fin 78,020 /Vulnerable
Sei Whale**** 256,000: 54,000 Severely /Vulnerable
Depleted
Bowhead 30,000: 7,500 Severely /Vulnerable
Whale**** Depleted
Sperm Whale**** 2,400,000:1,950,000 At or Above /Insufficiently
OSP***** Known
Right Whale**** --- : 1,000 Severely /Endangered
(North Atlantic) Depleted
(Southern 100,000: 3,000 Severely /Vulnerable
Hemisphere) Depleted
Humpback 115,000: 10,000 Severely /Vulnerable
Whale**** Depleted
Gray Whale**** >20,000: 21,000 Recovered /Unclassified
Bryde's Whale*** 100,000: 90,000 Not Listed /Insufficiently
Known
Minke Whale 140,000: 941,240** Not Listed /Insufficiently
Known
Atlantic
Pilot Whale 780,000 Not Listed Not Listed
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*According to the recent announcement by NMFS, US Dept. of Commerce.
**Including 761,000 in the Southern Hemisphere estimated by IWC/SC in
1990, re-affirmed in 1993.
***Status quoted from the IUCN Red Data Book, 'Dolphins, Porpoises and
Whales of the World', 1991.
****Oceanus, spring 1989
*****Optimum Sustainable Pop.
The whale currently hunted by Norway (and Japan) is the minke whale.
The number of minke whales in the North-East Atlantic is estimated
to 87000 (with a 95% confidence interval of +-20000). From the models
of the scientific committee of the Int'l Whaling Commision this results
in an annual ecologically safe catch quota of approx 800. The total
quota for '94 (and for '95) is 301.
Simen Gaure, Department of Mathematics, University of Oslo