Japanese whalers are likely to find mostly minke whales in Japanese coastal waters, and although their populations are healthy off Antarctica, they are more threatened off the coast of Japan. Conservationists and the International Whaling Commission consider all these species of large whales to be living under unstable conditions. Even if their numbers are not in immediate danger, they’re facing new environmental challenges. Whales are threatened not just by hunters, but also by climate change, pollution and toxic runoff and ships that strike them.
Source: latimes.com – Los Angeles Times