According to IWC scientists, there is no doubt that the world of the whales is in trouble. The past ten years have seen increasing mortality of whales and other marine mammals around the world. It is difficult to determine the causes of these events, but scientists believe the health of whale stocks is linked to major environmental threats posed by climate change, increases in chemical contaminants, and habitat degradation. These trends may be related to the polar amplification of warming predicted for the next several decades in response to increasing atmospheric CO2. According to the scientists, receding sea ice may alter the seasonal distribution of whales, their range, migratory patterns, reproductive success, prey availability, and ultimately the abundance and structure of the stocks.
Most scientists believe that the loss of sea ice forces a reduction in krill populations.
This rate of warming is greater than any seen in the last 10,000 years. Increases in ultra-violet radiation passing through the ozone hole endangers ocean productivity by hampering early stages of the food chain in the Arctic and Antarctica, which are critically important feeding areas for many large and endangered whales. In addition, health authorities are concerned with human health aspects of the consumption of certain populations of cetaceans. Established to regulate the whaling industry and help conserve whale stocks, the 40-member International Whaling Commission was recognized at the 1992 U.N. Conference on Environment and Development in Rio as the sole international body with the responsibility to manage whale stocks. The Commission set a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986.