Whaling

[my2rotties]

Honestly, why do people still need to kill whales? What do they use them for, and how much are they worth? I am watching The Sea Shepard, and the whaling industry hired an old military ship to spy on the Sea Shepard, so the whaling boats could be one step ahead.

I really do not understand why they do this. Can anyone enlighten me, it is really awful.

[VFX]

I'm with you on commercial Whaling being awful, especially in protected waters under the ole 'research' guise.

However, chasing whaling ships and throwing stink bombs & dyes at them is probably not the answer.

To tackle it properly you'll probably need to re-educate the taste buds, cultures & traditions of a nation's whole culinary history. On top of that, you'd have to tackle the financial implications of ending an entire industry.

To many, the livelihoods & traditions of humans mean more than the suffering of Whales.

.

[Keri]

I had muktuk (whale blubber) once while living in the Arctic and it was NOT delicious but this is what google found for me...

The Japan Whaling Association pleads its case: (reasons to eat whale)

"Whales consume as much as six times the volume of fish that humans catch. Whales are eating a disproportionate amount of our marine resources. Because whales are currently protected and may not be harvested, their numbers are increasing, and they are eating larger and larger amounts of fish, leaving many fewer fish for fishermen to take. This is an important reason for the decline of many fisheries resources around the world."

and other such beauties as...

"whales are basically stupid, bovine creatures, and whaling is a vital component in Japan’s efforts to achieve agricultural self-sufficiency."

It's a cultural thing I suppose, I mean, don't we eat cows which other religions worship? (I use the term "we" loosely - The only meat I've eaten for the past 14 years is fish) Not that I agree with it....who could eat this?

[my2rotties]

This whole whaling thing is so sad. Families are ruthlessly murdered, and I wonder what they are thinking.

I have no idea how the Japanese were allowed to kill whales for science... how did they get away with that? Perhaps our population is far too high and that is why the fish are not as plentiful. So basically they kill the whales and what do they do with the bodies. Is there a use for them now? I recall back in the old days they used whale oils for perfumes and cosmetics as well as fuel. Now we don't need to do that, so is their horrible death a complete waste? Either way, it does not have to happen, and I get sick watching them get killed in the manner that they die.

So Keri, what did you do in the Antarctic? I guess that is why you live in beautiful British Columbia now. With our dismal weather, you would think I live way out north as well.

I am glad these people against whaling do what they do. I am sure they would do much more if they could. I have watched Shark Water, and saw how laws protect people from facing consequences in illegally killing both whales and sharks. I think having reality shows about this matters is good thing as well. Who knew people would still be killing whales.

I don't want to start a political issue, but I just wanted to vent and understand why this is still common practice. It makes me sad that in our society today, with the knowledge and technology we have now, things like this still happen.

[deep6er]

the way I look at it is. We are all in this together, and if enough people REALY cared there would be more Sea sheppard's out there. A lot of what humans do is just BS.
eg. why is there seal bashing up north? because fishermen have said that the seals eat to much fish and the population is growing.
the human population is growing every second. and we consume more then the earth can replace.... so basically what the whalers and seal clubbers are doing is eliminating the competition.

[my2rotties]

This is a link to the Sea Shepard site... It takes about how Paul Watson started out with Green peace, and how he almost was suffocated by seal hunters. He handcuffed himself to a pile of seal pelts, and they dragged him across the deck of the ship kicking him all the way.

This man has always been a voice for animals even when he was a child. Links to his pages can be found at this main site...

http://www.seashepherd.org/

[Jamieh]

I wonder why so many people seem to care so much for seals and whales yet I do not see much of this at chicken plants or pig slaughter houses. Mr. Watson is not significantly different that PETA, it is a business more than a cause!

[dsaundry]

The whaling industry has changed greatly over the years, initially whaling was to get the oils that the whale had in its blubber. virtually all these oils can be created with synthetics now. As for the differences between PETA and The Sea Shepard society, yes they are both business's..both have had their share of doubters and supporters, however IMO while I believe no animal should suffer, I am not going to get bent out of shape about chickens or pigs as they are "raised" as food animals. Whale and seals aren't raised or farmed they are "culled" and like the fishing industry they are virtually driven to extinction. If chickens or pigs were endangered it might be a different story. Now I dont want to get any chicken or pig lovers against me here so don't spew facts about how chickens and different farm animals are kept or slaughtered. I don't agree with all the methods but I don't agree with a lot of PETA's idea's as well. I do agree that people get a lot more involved when the animals are "cute and cuddly" and are less supportive if they are not a cute animal. say like the slaughter of sharks so to speak, not many people are concerned about the shark harvesting that exists today.....Safe to say is that for the time being there are always going to be different views and the beauty of this is we have the ability to voice our opinions for the most part without censorship and retaliation.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by Jamieh

I wonder why so many people seem to care so much for seals and whales yet I do not see much of this at chicken plants or pig slaughter houses. Mr. Watson is not significantly different that PETA, it is a business more than a cause!

Because there is a huge difference between breeding for slaughter and needlessly slaughtering whales which do not reproduce nearly as fast. I am so sick of that argument. It's not the same thing.

[parkinsn]

Sorry that this is un related but I found this relativly funny (sad but funny)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM7EV4iF3Iw