Whale Hunting - The Truth

[myke]

Hiii...

I'm doing a project at school about whaling and how it's effecting the gene pool..

Obviously I've had to do my research and I've found some shocking pictures/videos that really show what it's all about... I never knew this kinda thing went on in the world today until I started doing this - you don't realise really, that whilst you're tucked up at home, there's people out there fighting to save whales and they try their absolute best.

Warning: Some footage & images may be graphic and not suitable for the younger viewers

What happens to a whale:
http://animal.discovery.com/videos/whale-wars-whale-kill.html

What happens after:
http://animal.discovery.com/videos/whale-wars-witness-to-a-whales-death.html

More whaling videos:
http://animal.discovery.com/videos/whale-wars/



http://oceans.greenpeace.org/raw/image_full/en/photo-audio-video/photos/greenpeace-ship-my-esperanza-w.jpg
http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/image_full/international/photosvideos/photos/minke-whale-is-transfered-onto.jpg


For more information:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=nisshin+maru&meta=&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisshin_Maru

http://animal.discovery.com/tv/whale-wars/

I know it's morbid and sad but it's not really something you can keep to yourself because it's jut ... meh.

It makes my stomach turn.

What do you think?

[Cheryl]

i'm watching the videos now, they are disgusting, especially when it's being shot then pulling it up the 'slip way'

[herrfishhead]

Whaling, although once a necessity, is just blow way out of proportion by greed.

[ifuseekamy]

How disgusting, they should be slaughtering cows and chickens like civilised people.

[Adamm]

Whaling, although once a necessity, is just blow way out of proportion by greed.
lol unintended pun.

ANYWAY.

What use are whales, really? They just eat Pelk.

[HotelUser]

I thought whale hunting was really touchy, even forbidden, because of the whale population, or lack there of.

[StripedTiger]

In 1986 the International Whaling Commission (IWC) banned commercial whaling so that stocks might recover.

I don't think its completely illegal, some countries have banned it and others haven't.

Not to twist your mind more but have you looked at seal hunting? That'll turn your stomach too.

[xxMATTGxx]

I don't think its completely illegal, some countries have banned it and others haven't.

Not to twist your mind more but have you looked at seal hunting? That'll turn your stomach too.

Just you tubed some videos and felt sick. How sick can some people get? Why hurt innocent animals that are not causing any problems what so ever. Pure sickness. I have the same views regarding whale hunting also.

[iAdam]

There's no point in it any more, Governments really need to let greenpeace do more tbh.

[Smits]

Dont they pretend its for medical research?

[dbgtz]

My fellow people I'm going to see if whales have the ability to cross bread with humans.
*goes there*
**** YEAH LOTS OF STUFF TO KILL.

Morons. I agree what's the point killing something which is harmless to you.

[StripedTiger]

Dont they pretend its for medical research?

maybe, but whales have completely different genes to us. They're better off testing mice and pigs.

That documentary on not long ago, cutting up the largest animals. I still want to know if the animal was already dead. Suspicious how they happened to "find" a body of the animal they wanted, at the right time and place O_o

[JackBuddy]

I hope that the people ranting about cruelty are vegetarians. Yes it's cruel, but if the populations have recovered and they are hunted sustainably then I have no problem with it.

Greenpeace really isn't as holy as some people think. A lot of it's stats are over exaggurated and frankly wrong. They manipulate their position as one of the leading environmental charities to mislead members of the public.

[StripedTiger]

I hope that the people ranting about cruelty are vegetarians. Yes it's cruel, but if the populations have recovered and they are hunted sustainably then I have no problem with it.

If the numbers were big enough to hunt then I'd agree with you, but they're like many beautiful animals and there aren't enough :( although when whaling did start the numbers were probably okay. I suppose for most people, if they were high in number it would be like fishing for tuna and bass etc.

[Nixt]

Most Whales are endangered, JackBuddy, so I don't think it's at all sustainable. Whaling is illegal internationally, but numerous countries choose not to enforce it. In particular Japan (I think?). Whales are hunted for blubber which has a high market value and is used in cosmetics. Whaling has nothing to do with medical research, contrary to what some people would like you to think.

That's my knowledge of it, anyway, but I could be wrong.

[Black_Apalachi]

You're right Garion.

The people on that Whale Wars are heroes really. Dolphin and shark hunting is as bad. Sharks are hunted for their fins and then thrown back alive and I think dolphins are hunted for their meat in general but there's some weird thing they do by herding them into a bay as a tourist attraction and then herding them somewhere else to be killed. Then the ones they don't need or something are killed anyway.

[JackBuddy]

Some species have recovered significantly. There are quite a few that are classed as 'lower risk' (in terms of threat).

Let's be honest, if an endangered species of rat was being hunted to extinction nobody would care. One of the biggest threats to coral reefs/dolphins/ turtles etc is the by-catch from trawler fishing, which really is much more of a threat to marine life than whaling.

[JackBuddy]

In reply to Garion, whaling isn't completely illegal. Countries that have relied on them for years (Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Japan etc) are issued quotas which limits the amount of whales that can be caught. There are indigenous populations that have depended on them for survival for thousands of years, they are also hunted as delicacies and for 'research'.

[myke]

Dont they pretend its for medical research?

No they pretend that it is for research into the animal and their ecology. :)


maybe, but whales have completely different genes to us. They're better off testing mice and pigs.

That documentary on not long ago, cutting up the largest animals. I still want to know if the animal was already dead. Suspicious how they happened to "find" a body of the animal they wanted, at the right time and place O_o

That documentary probably falls under the research, one of the rules of the research is that all the animal must be used and there must be no waste. Whales are top of the food chain and you don't realise but they balance the whole ecology and biodiversity of the sea. e.g. When they die naturally their bones are used for habitats (when they sink to the bed of the ocean) of species you've most likely never heard of. This relates to the butterfly/chaos theory :)



I hope that the people ranting about cruelty are vegetarians. Yes it's cruel, but if the populations have recovered and they are hunted sustainably then I have no problem with it.

Greenpeace really isn't as holy as some people think. A lot of it's stats are over exaggurated and frankly wrong. They manipulate their position as one of the leading environmental charities to mislead members of the public.

The populations haven't recovered that's the thing; a lot of the whales are now protected and Japan (one of the whaling capitals of the world) has a quota. They're allowed to kill say 400 minke whales a year or something, to keep the population thriving etc. However, that 400 is the LEGAL whaling, this doesn't take into account the hundreds of whales killed every year because of illegal whaling.



Most Whales are endangered, JackBuddy, so I don't think it's at all sustainable. Whaling is illegal internationally, but numerous countries choose not to enforce it. In particular Japan (I think?). Whales are hunted for blubber which has a high market value and is used in cosmetics. Whaling has nothing to do with medical research, contrary to what some people would like you to think.

That's my knowledge of it, anyway, but I could be wrong.

The argument for whale hunting is that almost every part of the whale is used, but I read somewhere that over 3000 (I think) whale carcuses are put into landfill every year, they use almost every part of it. e.g. With the research, the meat has to go to market because then it makes the most of the killing rather than killing it and then prodding it and then dumping it.



Some species have recovered significantly. There are quite a few that are classed as 'lower risk' (in terms of threat).

Let's be honest, if an endangered species of rat was being hunted to extinction nobody would care. One of the biggest threats to coral reefs/dolphins/ turtles etc is the by-catch from trawler fishing, which really is much more of a threat to marine life than whaling.

A whale is almost at the top of the food chain, (this is what my biology teacher, who studied ecology told me) and until you look at the food web you don't realise just how much of an impact it has. A rat can multiply loads in no amount of time - so no doubt someone would protect it and the breeding program would be easy - with whales it's completely different.

:]

[JackBuddy]

The populations haven't recovered that's the thing; a lot of the whales are now protected and Japan (one of the whaling capitals of the world) has a quota. They're allowed to kill say 400 minke whales a year or something, to keep the population thriving etc. However, that 400 is the LEGAL whaling, this doesn't take into account the hundreds of whales killed every year because of illegal whaling.

A whale is almost at the top of the food chain, (this is what my biology teacher, who studied ecology told me) and until you look at the food web you don't realise just how much of an impact it has. A rat can multiply loads in no amount of time - so no doubt someone would protect it and the breeding program would be easy - with whales it's completely different.

:]
Yes but some whale species have recovered, and some aren't in much danger at all. I used the rat as an example. the WWF wouldn't exactly incorporate an endangered species of worm as their logo. Most people only care about big, cute and furry animals.

[StripedTiger]

That documentary probably falls under the research, one of the rules of the research is that all the animal must be used and there must be no waste. Whales are top of the food chain and you don't realise but they balance the whole ecology and biodiversity of the sea. e.g. When they die naturally their bones are used for habitats (when they sink to the bed of the ocean) of species you've most likely never heard of. This relates to the butterfly/chaos theory :)

I know that, but people on this thread are discussing people killing whales and I have a suspicion that the 'creators' of that programme probably killed a whale just to make a tv series - along with the elephant, giraffe and other animals they sliced and diced. I just don't honestly believe they happened to find a washed up dead whale whilst carrying a load of tv cameras and had a load of scientists walking around with them.

I do believe that research is the way forward but that documentary was to entertain as well as to educate, I'm sure they could have found a different way other than taking a pop at a few animals.

[JackBuddy]

I know that, but people on this thread are discussing people killing whales and I have a suspicion that the 'creators' of that programme probably killed a whale just to make a tv series - along with the elephant, giraffe and other animals they sliced and diced. I just don't honestly believe they happened to find a washed up dead whale whilst carrying a load of tv cameras and had a load of scientists walking around with them.

I do believe that research is the way forward but that documentary was to entertain as well as to educate, I'm sure they could have found a different way other than taking a pop at a few animals.

Beached whales wouldn't be that hard to find, they're not rare events and obviously don't removed moved for days. I doubt they'd purposely kill one.

[myke]

I know that, but people on this thread are discussing people killing whales and I have a suspicion that the 'creators' of that programme probably killed a whale just to make a tv series - along with the elephant, giraffe and other animals they sliced and diced. I just don't honestly believe they happened to find a washed up dead whale whilst carrying a load of tv cameras and had a load of scientists walking around with them.

I do believe that research is the way forward but that documentary was to entertain as well as to educate, I'm sure they could have found a different way other than taking a pop at a few animals.

Did it actually say that they had stumbled upon the bodies? I'm sure Zoos etc. they would've been more than happy to sell them after they have died. idk.

[StripedTiger]

I didn't watch the series so they could have said where the bodies came from? I know that the whale was cut up on a beach though

[Black_Apalachi]

Some species have recovered significantly. There are quite a few that are classed as 'lower risk' (in terms of threat).

Let's be honest, if an endangered species of rat was being hunted to extinction nobody would care. One of the biggest threats to coral reefs/dolphins/ turtles etc is the by-catch from trawler fishing, which really is much more of a threat to marine life than whaling.

Of course there would be people who cared. Anyone who disapproves of fox hunting for example, but turns a blind eye to whaling is simply ignorant.