Whale FAQs

Why are whales called cetaceans?
Cetacean comes from the Greek word ketos, meaning sea monster, and the Latin word cetus, meaning a large sea animal.

How many kinds of whales are there?
Technically speaking, dolphins, porpoises and whales are all actually called whales.  There are more than 80 species of cetaceans. Tragically, the Baiji river dolphin that lived only in the Yangtze River in China became extinct 2 years ago!

What is the difference between a toothed whale and a baleen whale?
Baleen whales have baleen instead of teeth.  Baleen whales are all very large and have a row of baleen plates hanging from each side of the upper jaw like a curtain. Toothed whales have teeth and except for the sperm whale, tend to be smaller than baleen whales. Toothed whales include the sperm whale, beluga and narwhal, as well as all the beaked whales, dolphins and porpoises.

How does baleen work?
Baleen (which is also called whalebone) is made out keratin, just like your fingernails and hair. After a baleen whale takes a mouth full of water, it uses its throat and tongue to force the water back out of its mouth through the gaps in the baleen plates. Like a giant strainer, food (shrimp like animals and small fishes) is caught in the fine brush-like hairs that fringe the inside edges of the baleen. With a lift of the tongue and a big gulp, dinner is served.

What did people used to use baleen for?
Before people discovered how to make plastics, they used baleen. In the 19th century, baleen was used in ladies corsets, umbrellas, hair brushes and all sorts of other things that needed to be stiff but flexible.

What is the largest whale in the world?
The largest whale in the world is the blue whale. It can reach 30 meters in length and weigh up to about 180 tonnes.

Why do whales strand?
Some animals strand because they cannot stay afloat or survive for some reason in the open water. Others strand while chasing prey into shallow water or because they are inexperienced at navigating the coastline. There are other reasons too; collisions with ships, oil spills, entanglement in fishing gear, disease. In the end, researchers don't really know what causes many strandings.

What does the IWC stand for and what does it do?
Just like your school’s student council governs certain student activities, The International Whaling Commission - or IWC for short - governs certain whaling activities. At this time, 77 nations from all over the world belong to the IWC. Each year they get together at the annual IWC meeting where they make decisions about whale hunting and whale conservation worldwide.

What does subsistence whaling mean?
When people kill whales for their own purposes, it is called subsistence whaling.

What does commercial whaling mean?
When people kill whales to sell their meat and other body parts, it is called commercial whaling.

What does scientific whaling mean?
Under the IWC, any member country can allow whaling for “scientific purposes”. But under Japan’s ‘scientific’ whaling program, the whale meat ends up in the marketplace. You don't have to kill a whale to study it.... non-lethal whale research is the best way to study whales today.

Isn't there a ban on commercial whaling?
At the 1982 meeting, the IWC decided that there should be a pause in commercial whaling on all whale stocks starting in 1986. Unfortunately, commercial whaling continues today because not everyone agrees with the decisions made at the IWC meetings.

Which countries continue to hunt whales commercially?
Japan, Iceland, and Norway have chosen to continue whaling commercially. More than 30,000 whales have been slaughtered for commercial purposes since the global ban on commercial whaling in 1986.

What is IFAW's stand on commercial whaling?
Simply put, commercial whaling is cruel and unnecessary and it must be stopped. None of the products produced are necessary and continued whaling threatens the world’s remaining cetaceans.

What other threats do whales face?
Other than commercial and scientific whaling, whales face a bunch of other threats -- all caused by human activity. Whales are also threatened by ocean noise, industrial development (including oil and gas), entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with ships (called ship strikes), and global warming.