Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary

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An area of about 50 million square kilometres surrounding Antarctica in which the IWC has prohibited commercial whaling, adopted in 1994 with 23 states in favour and Japan opposed. Its northern boundary follows 40°S except in the Indian Ocean sector, where it meets the Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary at 55°S, and around South America and into the South Pacific, where it is at 60°S. Its status is reviewed by the Commission every ten years, which means it is a standing political decision rather than a settled fact - a distinction that matters for a species whose recovery is measured over generations longer than the review cycle.