--- description: Researchers call it "the largest hunt in human history" title: Report: 3 Million Whales Were Killed in the 20th Century image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltecad7ea335fbde0a/6987838ccd1bbae6af6f5ad1/whale.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [animals](/tag/animals/) ## animals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 3 Million Whales Were Killed in the 20th Century by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 13, 2015 8:23 PM CUT  Humpback Whale underwater portrait Humpback Whale underwater portraitKate Westaway—Getty Images by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 13, 2015 8:23 PM CUT Moby Dick got lucky. A total of nearly three million whales were killed in the 20th century, according to a new estimate—a number driven by rapid advances in hunting technology and illegal catches by nations like the Soviet Union. And the full number of whales killed may be even higher in what researchers call “the largest hunt in human history.” The study attempts to tally the number of whales that were killed as whaling transformed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from an enterprise carried out by men with rowboats to an industrialized effort capable of processing… [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/3-million-whales-were-killed-20th-century-report-n322961 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3744618/3-million-whales-killed/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3744618/3-million-whales-killed/"},"headline":"3 Million Whales Were Killed in the 20th Century","datePublished":"2015-03-13T20:23:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:09:37.937Z","description":"Researchers call it \"the largest hunt in human history\"","url":"https://time.com/3744618/3-million-whales-killed/","keywords":["animals","whaling"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltecad7ea335fbde0a/6987838ccd1bbae6af6f5ad1/whale.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltecad7ea335fbde0a/6987838ccd1bbae6af6f5ad1/whale.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Humpback whale","caption":"","creditText":"Kate Westaway—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3744618/3-million-whales-killed/","name":"3 Million Whales Were Killed in the 20th Century"}}]}] ```