BBC News | In graphics
Key species of endangered whale
Sperm whale
Made famous in Moby Dick, sperm whales are the only 'great whale' to have teeth. They have been hunted since the 17th Century. Sperm whale oil once lit the lamps of the major cities of the US and Europe. After WW2, catches reached up to 30,000 per year.
There are no agreed current estimates of numbers, although some authors believe that the historical population worldwide may have been 1 - 2 million, and that there may now be 360,000 - 1 million.
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