At the beginning of the twentieth century, up to 50,000 whales per season were killed annually. The International Whaling Commission was established in 1946 to regulate whaling. In 1982, the commission imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling. In 2014, the UN banned the Japanese scientific program, under which up to 1,500 whales were destroyed annually. In 2019, Japan withdrew from the ICPC and resumed commercial animal slaughter.

Human activity continues to destroy the remaining 3% of the population of sea giants. The anthropogenic factor includes trawling, the destruction of coral reefs, the death of whales in nets and from collisions with ships. Poisoning by waste from oil production is especially disastrous, toxins accumulate in the tissues of adults and pregnant females, contributing to the degradation of young. Due to the extremely small number of animals and the lack of genetic diversity, new generations are prone to the accumulation of genetic defects and gradual degeneration.