By Melissa Segrest
Green Right Now
In 1986, the International Whaling Commission banned the catching and killing of whales for commercial purposes worldwide. Whale populations – such as the North Pacific gray and the North Atlantic right whale – were threatened because of centuries of unrestricted hunting.
That ban is still in effect, with two exceptions: aboriginal peoples whose survival depends on whaling (Alaska, St. Vincent, the Grenadines, Denmark and the Russian Federation) and whaling for scientific purposes.
