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The article discusses a plan that is submitted to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) where Japanese scientists proposed the annual killing of 333 minke whales for 12 years to satisfy the objectives of the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR). Topics covered include the reduction of the original number of whales killed every year in the Antarctic Ocean, investigation of the role of whales in the ecosystem and recommendation of the IWC panel for ICR to adopt a non-lethal research method.

The article reflects on the study published in the September 2014 issue of the journal "Zoomorphology" conducted by a team of scientists in Brazil showing 14 spleens, the organ for filtering blood, in some cetaceans, the group comprising whales and dolphins.

The article discusses research about Mesoplodon (M.) hotaula, a species of beaked whales. It references a study by cetacean geneticist Scott Baker and colleagues, published in "Marine Mammal Science." Topics discussed include the reason why M. hotaula was initially misidentified as M. ginkgodens, the rediscovery of the species through a DNA study, the characteristics and behavior of M. hotaula, and the plans to launch an expedition to learn more about such whales.

The article offers information on cases of whales with sunburned and blistered skins. The three-year study of blue whales, sperm whales and fin whales in the Gulf of California indicated varying amounts of pigmentation in the skin of the three whale species with 95% of samples showing cells with sun damage and 56% showing damage extending to skin layers down to the basal layer. The results of the study sparked the concern about the thinning ozone layer that could have been causing animal skin cancers.

The article deals with the discovery of the first fossilized skull and jaws of an ancient giant whale off the coast of Peru in 2010. It states that the ancient sperm whale has a length of about 13 meters, which is twice as long as a great white shark. According to the scientists who discovered the fossil, the ancient whales were considered as top predators because they have upper and lower sets of knife-edged teeth which are around 36 centimeters long.

The article discusses the results of a study on how the variation in the size and shapes of whales evolve. According to the author, the size and shape of dolphins, whales, and porpoises evolved due to their ancient preferences on diet. The author adds that sperm whales and beaked whales have large body sizes due to the physiological demands for diving very deep to look for food while blue whales grew so large because their prey is abundant and can be easily caught.

The article discusses the seeming return of the gray whales to the Atlantic as experts have seen them surface off the coast of Israel leading cetologists to conclude that the gray whales travelled through the Northwest Passage to the Atlantic due to climate change.

The article discusses research being done on the population of gray whales. It references a study led by Elizabeth Alter published online in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences." Study data suggest that the whales' numbers prior to commercial whaling ranged between 76,000 and 118,000 for the western and eastern stocks combined. Furthermore, the study indicates that gray whales were once three to five times more plentiful than they are as of 2007.

The article reports that the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) rejected the requests of Japan and Iceland to review whale populations. The decision means that the 21-year-old commercial ban on whaling enacted by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) will be maintained. Comments from Patrick Ramage of International Fund for Animal Welfare and Phillip Clapham of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center are presented.