The decline of global whale populations

Shown are estimates of global whale populations in pre-whaling periods versus the year 2001.

Source: Pershing et al. (2010); Christensen (2006)

Note: Estimates – particularly for the distant past – are crude, and come with significant uncertainty. Pre-whaling dates depend on the whale species and region (most are in the late 19th and early 20thcentury) but have all been coded as the year 1890 for consistency.