Minke whales continue to be hunted commercially in Norway and Japan, with time-to-death studies revealing significant suffering that welfare arguments have largely failed to end.
Minke whale welfare in commercial whaling is characterised by acute, intense suffering that is acknowledged even by proponents of whaling. Explosive harpoons are designed to kill quickly, but individual variation in strike location means a significant proportion of hunted whales experience prolonged drowning, explosive injury or both before death. The welfare case against commercial whaling is unambiguous - the suffering involved cannot be justified by any food security or cultural argument when whale meat constitutes a trivial component of food supply in both Norway and Japan. International pressure has reduced overall whale killing significantly but has not ended commercial hunting in the two countries that continue it.