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 == Introductory paragraph == 
 I have amended the introductory paragraph where it said ""The potential of the extermination of species by whaling"" as it implies that the extinction of species is a possible future event. In fact whale species extinction is an existing historical fact as is the endangered status of certain of the great whales. Similary while it may be semantically correct to say there is no consensus in the sense of unanimous agreement or even very large majority agreement, the current situation is clearly that commercial whaling is banned by the IWC. A statement that there is no consensus while semantically correct is too vague.  

 In reponse to SammyThe Seal: the reference is the United Nations web site as was clear in the reference in the text that you reverted: http://www.un.org/works/environment/animalplanet/whale.html The following are direct quotes from that page: 
 ""At the height of the whaling industry, one species after another was killed off.""  
 ""Even with these conservation efforts, seven of the 13 great whales remain endangered as new threats contribute to their plight."" 
 I will revert the introduction to my edit as these and the fact that the IWC has a moratorium on commercial facts are the top level current facts of whaling today    

 : Phanly, 

 Read the whaling article - Look at the table - which species are extinct? None ... reverted - and will continue to revert - please check your facts, rather rely on your interpretation of ""one"" article ..  

 :: Addition - the list of extinct species you linked to has zero to do with whaling - or do you disagree?   

 Sammy, I relied on a specific statement on UN web page re extinction of whales. I did not interpret it, but I accept that it appears to be incorrect. Thanks. As to the sentence that there is no consensus, I accept that it is correct in the sense that the margin of majority for the decision to ban commercial whaling is small,believe it serves to obfuscate that there is   in fact a ban on commercial whaling by the IWC. I will add that part as an addition to the existing sentence.   

 : Phanly, I modified the intro to reflect the ST Kitts and Nevis declaration from the 2006 IWC meeting - it´s a slim one vote majority ..  

 == Phanly - Amended Intro == 

 Hi Phanly, 

 Regarding "" The past extinction of many whale species and the current endangered status of seven of the 13 great whales  has set up a heated debate over the value of whaling in modern society. At present, commercial whaling is banned by the IWC, but this ban is opposed by a significant minority of the members. "" 

 Please elaborate on this "" past extinction of many whale species "" - Which species? Aside from the possible extinction of the Bajii .. that´s it - Atlantic Grey whales are thought to be extinct but grey whales as a species are doing just fine - if you mean sub-species or local populations then say so and provide cites and references.  

 The IWC shenanigans and the associated  politics is already well covered -  As for the ""significant minority"" comment, well, the minority was the majority at the last IWC meeting resulting in the ST. Kitts and Nevis declaration.... It´s fine and well if you personally are anti whaling - but the article should be NPOV -  and factual... regards   

 == Conservation status == 

 Anybody feel up to changing the IUCN classifications table? ( I don´t trust myself to fiddle with the table )The IUCN has downlisted a number of Marine mammals in January    

 : Seems like the HNA have announced prematurely - the IUCN still has not announced officially - When it does, there will be a fair amount of editing to do in related articles ( endangered mammals and so forth )  

 == Whale Intelligence == 

 Hello, yesterday, I added two recent references on the topic of whale intelligence, while they by no means form a consensus, as they are recent and from reliable scientific sources, I thought they might add value to the page.  
 :I radically edited this section, leaving these sources, cutt