Are Whales Protected Animals? A Guide to Whale Conservation Knowledge

Whales in people's impression are symbols of mystery and beauty. Whether it is the blue whale, or the killer whale, or other cetaceans, they are all very popular with people because of their size, strength and mystery. So are cetaceans protected animals? And what is their current status?

There are about 30 or more species of cetaceans in China. Apart from the baiji and the Chinese white dolphin, 2 species listed as national first-class protected animals, all other species are listed as second-class protected animals. In the world, due to large-scale hunting by humans, the number of whales is decreasing sharply. The International Whaling Commission has banned commercial whaling since 1986, but in 1987 this ban loosened, allowing limited whaling activities “for research purposes”. Despite strong opposition, some countries still carry out whaling activities on a large scale, and the number of cetaceans on Earth is decreasing at a rate of about 1000 per year.

Whales on Earth are mainly divided into two types: baleen whales and toothed whales. There are fewer species of baleen whales, but they are huge in size. The smallest known species currently has a body length of more than 6 m. The world's largest animal, the blue whale, also belongs to the baleen whales, and the body length of the blue whale is generally about 22-33 m. The body sizes of toothed whales vary considerably; the smallest species has a body length of only about 30cm, while the largest, the sperm whale, has a body length of more than 20 m.

Whales are distributed relatively widely in the Southern Ocean, and their traces can be found almost everywhere south of the Antarctic Convergence. Their distribution is closely related to the distribution of krill swarms. Blue whales are mainly distributed in the pack ice zone. Living farthest south are the giant arm whales and the black baleen whales. The striped arm whale can overwinter in the waters off Antarctica, and right whales are mainly distributed in the sub-Antarctic region; toothed whales are distributed in the Antarctic Convergence and migrate with seasonal changes.

Whales are treasures from head to tail and have important economic value. Their huge bodies provide people with large amounts of whale meat, whale oil and other products. The value of a blue whale of about 100 tons reaches 10000 US dollars. Because the value of whales is extremely high, the countries currently engaged in whaling activities in the world have not restrained themselves because of the many voices of opposition, and recently there has instead been a trend of intensifying their actions. Japan has even threatened to reconsider its relationship with the International Whaling Commission to demand that commercial whaling be opened again.

The above is some related knowledge about whales. With the deterioration of the environment and human hunting, the number of whales is decreasing sharply. If necessary measures are not taken, perhaps in less than a century, our descendants will only be able to know this animal from records.