How many blue whales have been killed?

No blue whales are now being killed. Hunting of blue whales was banned in 1966, and the last illegal hunting (by Russia) was in the 1970s.

The number of blue whales in the world was estimated at between 5,000 and 12,000 in 2002, and the species is endangered.

Scientists estimate that the blue whale population is slowly increasing, but at present numbers are smaller than 1% of its original population two hundred years ago. It is thought that the whales have a natural lifespan of about eighty years.

The blue whale's only predator is the orca, or killer whale (actually a type of dolphin). Almost a quarter of blue whales have scars from orca attacks, but the blue whale's size (up to 120 tonnes and 60 metres [200 ft] long, bigger than any of the dinosaurs) suggests they are difficult to kill. There is no information on how many are killed by orcas.

Blue whales are rarely beached. They are occasionally injured or killed after a collision with a ship, but another human threat to them is from the accumulation of polychlorinated biphenyl(PCB) chemicals within the whale's body.