The future of the whales,

as with many other animals,

depends on what people do.

For hundreds of years,

whales have been hunted and killed for meat and oil.

Nowadays, their hunting is really regulated,

although some countries are still killing whales.

Whales and their habitats are being attacked from every side.

There are shipping lanes in their migration routes,

over fishing of their feeding grounds,

over developing of coastal areas where they go for breeding.