Relatively little is known about the historical and current population levels of the southern fin whale. The IWC officially estimates that the Southern Hemisphere pre-whaling population was 400,000 whales and that the population in 1979 (at the cessation of Antarctic large scale whaling) was 85,200. Both the current and historical estimates should be considered as poor estimates because the methodology and data used in the study are known to be flawed. Other estimates cite current size to be between 15,000 (1983) and 38,000 (1997). As of 2006, there is no scientifically accepted estimate of current population or trends in abundance.