Often considered the archetypal whale, the sperm whale was subject to intense whaling during the 19th century, and again from the 1950's to the end of the 1970's. Prior to commercial whaling, 1.1 million of these great animals roamed the world's oceans. When the last sperm whale was harpooned, around 360,000 remained. No longer exploited, the sperm whale is considered Vulnerable by the IUCN.