Humpback Whales Endangered
By 18th century, the commercial value of humpback whales increased and that made them a preferred target for hunters.
During 19th century, many nations were hunting heavily humpback whales and the increasing sophistication of weapons caused a great decline in humpback whale population by the beginning of 20th century, reaching alarming levels which are believed to be as low as 700 individuals in the North Atlantic.
By the year 1966 a population worldwide reached a low number of 5,000 individuals and the Whaling Commission issued a desperate ban on humpback whales to prevent extinction.
The protection brought some results and the the population has recovered from an historic low of 1,500 whales before the banning to around 20,000 individuals today. However this number is around the population available by 1940.
This numbers have moved the Humpback whales from an status of Endangered to “Least Concern” now.