 Once relentlessly hunted for their products , whales are now protected by international law . The North Atlantic right whales nearly became extinct in the twentieth century , with a population low of 450 , and the North Pacific gray whale population is ranked Critically Endangered by the IUCN . Besides whaling , they also face threats from bycatch and marine pollution . The meat , blubber and baleen of whales have traditionally been used by indigenous peoples of the Arctic . Whales have been depicted in various cultures worldwide , notably by the Inuit and the coastal peoples of Vietnam and Ghana , who sometimes hold whale funerals . Whales occasionally feature in literature and film , as in the great white whale of Herman Melville 's Moby Dick . Small whales , such as belugas , are sometimes kept in captivity and trained to perform tricks , but breeding success has been poor and the animals often die within a few months of capture . Whale watching has become a form of tourism around the world . 
