World Wildlife Fund

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is an organization that attempts to protect endangered species and their environments worldwide. In the following viewpoint, the WWF argues that whale populations are declining despite international efforts to protect them. Some whales are still killed for commercial and scientific purposes, the organization maintains, and human activities such as shipping, fishing, and farming injure or poison great numbers of whales each year. The WWF contends that the moratorium on whaling must be strengthened and more marine areas protected to save the whales.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. Which countries have killed the most whales since the 1985–86 whaling moratorium went into effect?
2. Why have the people of the Faeroe Islands been warned to restrict their consumption of whale meat?
3. What factors are contributing to the...