Killing Whales, Why?

[Cedars]

I understand the Gray Whales are coming back in the Pacific. People here flock to the shores and go out on boats to whale watch as well. (Oregon/Washington) We have one tribe up on the Strait of Juan de Fuca - the Makah - who have asserted their ancestral rights to hunt the Grays.

http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/graywhl.htm

 

I wish I knew how they determine a whale population has neared its historic levels. Maybe it is due to the Blue, Humpback, Bowhead (and other) whales still struggling to achieve its former numbers. And this brings up the question of whether harvest of the Gray is needed to leave the spot open for these other whales to expand back into their territories in bigger numbers.

 

While the Makah have not lost their rights to hunt whale, they did agree to no international trading of their harvest, which was notably missing from the description of the obsticles noted in the last part of the article.

 

I have lost much of my sympathy towards native hunting/fishing rights and that is not due entirely to media coverage, rather it is due to personal experiences with some members of various tribes. While the public face of the tribe will decry members of the tribe who overharvest, my experience indicates it is not 1 out of a 100 members who take the attitude of "killing as many as I can so white people cant have them", that the public tribal face claims. There is also the point that the tribes I speak of are not whaling tribes.

[Michaelangelica]

This is the story of Killer Whales helping humans hunt other whales

Title: Killers in Eden

Author: Danielle Clode

Publisher: Allen & Unwin 2002

In Conversation - 30 November 2006  - Danielle Clode

 

 

Today my local bottle shop and post office had petitions to sign against killing whales. These will be presented to the Japanes Embasy. They were running out of farms to sign.

[anglepose]

from what i gather the inuits and iclandics hunt whales as part of a long running tradition precisely the same arguement they have as the uks ban on fox hunting which is the same principle as whale hunting.

so basicly they just hunt for fun becuase they no no better.

to stop this absurd whale hunting they need to be educated into the reasons why we are inflicting a ban instead of just telling them they cant hunt, especially educating the children so future generations dont hunt.

[somebody]

Eating meat or not, but i do agree that whales should not be killed especially when we do not know much about them.

 

few weeks ago i was watching PBS and they did their special on whales. They clearly stated that there is very little know about these creature, about thier life cycle, mating and etc. So eating chicken, cow, fishes, etc... is ok since we know how to raise them but killing whales isn't a choice :teeth: . Japanese or anyone else don't know jack about how to raise these large mammals.

[Michaelangelica]

The Sea Shepard sets sail today aiming to disrupt Japanese whaling by any means possible.

A Sea Shepard spokesman said the Japanese Whalers were criminals so anything goes.

The war is on.

I will keep you posted of anything in Australian news bulletins

:( :Guns: :angry:

:cup: :hammer: ;)

 

THE SEA SHEPHERD'S BATTLE AGAINST WHALING

7.12.2006 14:44:31

The stage is being set for an eventful whaling season this summer in the waters off Antarctica.

 

The Japanese whaling fleet has left for the southern ocean but also getting ready to set sail is the Sea Shepherd's Farley Mowat. Armed with what it calls its 'can opener' welded onto the side of the ship and four-barrel goo gun, the crew is determined to shut down the Japanese whaling fleet.

 

The black ship has an ominous presence and, like notches on a gun barrel, proudly lists the ten vessels it has sunk over years of protesting against whaling. Sea Shepherd’s actions are controversial, drawing the ire of governments, the IWC as well as other conservation organisations like Greenpeace.

Radio programme at

SBS Radio - World View

Japanese whalers leave for slaughter mission

Andrew Darby

November 15, 2006 - 10:16AM

 

 

The Japanese whaling fleet is leaving for the Antarctic under closer control of its Government, in a toughening of its stance ahead of this summer's battle with environmentalists.

 

The factory ship Nisshin Maru and three chasers are due to leave Shimonoseki in southern Japan later today on an expedition to kill up to 935 minke whales and 10 fins, environmentalists said.

 

They sail south for the first time after the fleet's holding company, Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha, was shifted from Japanese fishing corporations to the Government's Institute for Cetacean Research (ICR).

 

The move is said to emphasise Tokyo's commitment to whaling, and might mean a harder line against Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace in what is shaping as the fiercest contest yet between their forces.

 

Up to four protest ships will attempt to take on the fleet, which should begin whaling south-east of Australia in mid-December. Last summer the direct action resulted in three ship collisions and severely disrupted whaling for several weeks.

 

The ICR on its Japanese-language website is calling for public support in condemnation of what it describes as "dangerous terrorist behaviour".

 

This year both environment groups said they would have ships fast enough to keep up with the fleet for the first time. They were withholding details of their movements before they reached the far south.

 

The shift in fleet ownership followed consumer pressure on Western subsidiaries of the major fishing corporation, Nissui. The president of Sea Shepherd, Paul Watson, said the transfer out of commercial hands would make the fleet more aggressive.

 

"The Government will be more stubborn and more intractable,"

 

Captain Watson said. "I think things will be much hotter down south this summer."

. . .

"Japan considers this an issue of national policy and national sovereignty.

 

It's a question of positioning themselves ahead of the next International Whaling Commission meeting."

 

Japan is whaling under the "scientific research" provision of the IWC's treaty while it campaigns to overturn the moratorium on commercial whaling in place for the past 20 years.

. . .

2007 the whalers will start hunting humpbacks which migrate along the Australian coast in winter, with a self-allocated quota of 50.

Japanese whalers leave for slaughter mission - Whale watch - Specials

 

ea Shepherd confirmed it intended to take two ships south. With Greenpeace also likely to take two ships, a small navy of protesters will be engaging the whalers in the troubled polar waters.

Protesters to step up bid to stop whaling - National - theage.com.au

Last Update: Friday, December 15, 2006. 4:09pm (AEDT)

Senator Campbell says he is happy to be judged on his credentials of trying to save whales.

(Reuters)

 

Environment Minister dismisses whalers' criticism

 

Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell has rejected allegations from Japanese whalers that he supports eco-terrorism.

 

The Japan Whaling Association (JWA) has accused Senator Campbell of offering support from Australia's Antarctic bases to the conservation group Sea Shepherd when it takes on Japanese whaling fleets in the area.

 

The JWA is also allegedly angered by the closeness of Senator Campbell and the group's leader, Captain Paul Watson, describing the Senator's actions as showing contempt for the International Whaling Commission.

 

But Senator Campbell has dismissed the accusations.

 

"I'm happy to be judged on my credentials of trying to save whales versus the Japanese credentials of slaughtering them, seeing them dragged backwards through the sea, seeing blood pour out of them, seeing them asphyxiated over a period of 10 to 13 minutes," he said.

 

"All I want to do is make sure that Captain Watson and Greenpeace stay safe and respect the law of the sea."

 

Senator Campbell says he has spoken with Captain Watson but denies he supports eco-terrorism.

Environment Minister dismisses whalers' criticism. 15/12/2006. ABC News Online

[Cedars]

Do you know if anyone has tried capturing the screams of the dying whales and re-broadcasting them in the waters ahead of the whaling ships?

 

Or would they come to try to help the distressed whale?

[Michaelangelica]

Do you know if anyone has tried capturing the screams of the dying whales and re-broadcasting them in the waters ahead of the whaling ships?

 

Or would they come to try to help the distressed whale?

They do have an underwater communication system and it would be a good idea to exploit it if we knew how. I don't know if we do.

(Then the Japanese might then use it to attract whales?)

There are some suggestions/theories that beached pods of whales start from one whale being stranded and others comming to help.

The leap/splashes are also communication too iI am told.

[Cedars]

They do have an underwater communication system and it would be a good idea to exploit it if we knew how. I don't know if we do.

(Then the Japanese might then use it to attract whales?)

 

I was also thinking later that there are probably many variables in whale language between n. and s. hemisphere (for example) that may make a single recording useless to other pods. We've seen this with other mammals such as monkeys.

 

 

There are some suggestions/theories that beached pods of whales start from one whale being stranded and others comming to help.

The leap/splashes are also communication too iI am told.

 

Oh Thats Right! :doh:

 

OK back to the naval blockade and accidental collisions. :)

[InfiniteNow]

If the distress call idea has merit, then perhaps it's source could be located far away from the hunters, such that the whales increase their distance from them... :)

[Cedars]

hmmm...

 

Just a thought.

 

There have been things in the news about sonar driving whales to beach themselves. There must be a frequency that will drive the animals without inflicting the damages being reported. That would be easier than trying to break whale language.

[Tormod]

So eating chicken, cow, fishes, etc... is ok since we know how to raise them

 

Okay, sorry for going off-topic but frankly I wonder how much we know about raising chicken, cattle, and even fish. I read so much about how badly animals are being treated from they are born to the day they are slaughtered. A farmer might do as best she can but when animals are put in cages that are barely large enough to stand upright in, something is horribly wrong. :doh:

 

As for whales - I once read that their sounds could be heard halfway around the globe. Can anyone help me qualify that statement?

[InfiniteNow]

As for whales - I once read that their sounds could be heard halfway around the globe. Can anyone help me qualify that statement?

In an episode of Cosmos (the show w/Carl Sagan) he stated that whales USED TO be able to have their song heard half way around the world, but since the exponential increase of our ships and submarine insertion to the waters, complete with their sonic and exploratory regalia, that whales can no longer hear each other for more than a few hundred miles... "Topic: The disturbance of whale communication networks by humans." :(

[Tormod]

In an episode of Cosmos (the show w/Carl Sagan)

 

A ha! Thanks for that. I knew I had heard it somewhere. I have the Cosmos series on DVD. :(

[Michaelangelica]

Okay, sorry for going off-topic but frankly I wonder how much we know about raising chicken, cattle, and even fish.

 

Caged chickens are pretty gross. I once went to a big commercial farm to get some free manure. The manure was a metre deep under the cages. The chickens had barely enough room to move. Their beaks were cut off so they could not peck each other. Some were almost bald. The smell and noise put me off getting the manure.

I now get my eggs from a lady up the road where the chooks run free.

 

Bits and pieces of news are comming out about the comming Confrontation in Antartica

EG

CDNN :: Sea Shepherd to Protect Whales from Japanese Eco-Terrorists

 

The Japanese whaling fleet shifted from private hands this year and is now indirectly owned by the Japanese Government.

It was due to arrive in the Ross Sea region around a fortnight ago, but an official in Tokyo refused to confirm whether it had begun whaling.

and

The Farley Mowat is expected to arrive in the whaling area during the first week in January where the flagship will rendezvous with the organization’s newly acquired second ship, code-named Leviathan.

The two ships with over 60 international volunteer crewmembers, a helicopter, and numerous smaller vessels will confront the Japanese whalers on the high seas.

The volunteers represent thirteen nations with crewmembers from Australia, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Hungary, Great Britain, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States.

 

The Japanese whaling fleet is determined to slaughter more than 1,000 whales in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary – where it is illegal to kill whales.

Japan has doubled its illegal quota of piked (Minke) whales to just over a thousand, and will be targeting endangered fin whales, and for the first time since the early eighties, 50 endangered humpback whales

Scoop: Sea Shepherd Launches Operation Leviathan

and

THE hardline anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd plans to disrupt Japan's summer whaling program in Antarctica by inflicting just enough damage on the whaling vessel to force it to comply with strict Japanese safety regulations and return to port for repairs.

New tactics to challenge whalers - Whale watch - Specials - smh.com.au

 

and

Paul Watson: 'We look on this as a policing operation, so our tactics are interventionist and obstructive, but we'll of course take every precaution to ensure that we don't injure anyone. We have an unblemished record in that regard. In 30 years of operations we've shut down numerous whaling operations and never hurt anybody.'

Radio Australia - News - Anti-whaling ship heads to Antarctica

 

A few Japanese links:-

Earlier this year I was commissioned by a British newspaper to research a Japanese company called Hakudai, which was reputed to be putting whale meat into dog food.

The Japan Times Online

 

Science is also inconvenient in exposing the dangers of whale consumption. There have been public health warnings that there are extremely high concentrations of toxic chemicals -- PCBs and mercury -- in whale meat, and pregnant women have been warned not to eat any at all

The Japan Times Online

 

Japan's taxpayers are paying for this mind-boggling boondoggle, subsidizing research whaling expeditions that gain international opprobrium while funding a research institute that produces little research and also markets whale meat at tax-subsidized prices that most Japanese don't want

The Japan Times Online

 

The sales company plans to seek out new customers, including hospitals, by highlighting the meat's high protein and low calories, institute officials said. The company will also sell the meat via the Internet.

The Japan Times Online

[Michaelangelica]

What do you think of "Indigenous Subsistance Whaling?

The issue of Aboriginal subsistence whaling needs to be acknowledged and discussed.

Australian Aborigines and Danish Farosese fisherman may kill the animal with a traditional weapon, but they do this from motorised boats.

Save the whaling | COSMOS magazine

[Cedars]

What do you think of "Indigenous Subsistance Whaling?

 

In the most simple terms, it is discrimination based on race and shouldnt be allowed. When you add in the rariety of a particular animal being hunted, it adds to the legitimate reasons why this shouldnt be permitted. My cultural heritage may not have been a whaling peoples, but that is simply based on their location and doesnt mean if during a migration (immigration) my cultures values wouldnt have adapted to and adopted a new food source. Adapting to an environment is more than a cultural heritage, it is a primary evolutionary means that allowed people to become where they are in terms of dominance on this planet. And this works in the reverse, using the very claims of the indigenous peoples, one can assert that things have changed/evolved enough that whaling (or a number of other traditions) are no longer simply a subsistence issue. The points about the motorized boats is one small piece in the larger example. Their cultural tradtions have adopted methods that are foreign to their culture, thereby altering their traditions.

 

It reminds me (somewhat) of an issue here that has evolved. When growing up on the farm, we were by law, allowed to take deer without a license on our own property. Our restriction was the same as those who hunted public lands in that we could not take more deer than the number of legitimate hunters lived in the house, hunting deer on our farm must be carried out during the legitimate deer hunting season, we couldnt take females if females were closed in our particular area, etc. And we couldnt hunt the neighbors farm under this exception.

 

In the early 70s this law was changed and now everyone hunting deer had to have a state issued license for each deer harvested. It wasnt because there was a shortage of deer, thats for sure. There was outcry from many. Legitimate complaints, after all, the deer were eating corn and hay being planted by the farmers themselves. The farmers crops were supporting large numbers of the deer being hunted. The states arguement was the deer belonged to all the people of Minnesota and to treat some Minnesotans differently than others was discriminatory regulation. By licensing all Minnesotans, there was equality under the law.

 

Back to the whaling. Of the whales roaming the seas, there are alot of issues as unresolved. For example, the whales which spend time along the shores of Iceland I believe migrate to other places at other times, so they are not just Icelands whales. *someone with more knowledge of this correct me if I am wrong* What I dont know is where these animals go at other times of the year. We go thru this with migratory birds and many fights between the states have erupted over the years over duck hunting (as an example). Several northern states sued over the hunting in southern states, who had bag limits that were unimaginably high, even some with no bag limits. These birds nested in the north, northern states were protecting nesting areas, encouraging land set asides and trying to maintain huntable flocks only to watch tv news reports from southern states where they were slaughtering huge numbers of birds. It was thru the courts and federal wildlife management efforts that these southern states were brought into line and forced to realize those birds belonged to the people of the US and they (southern states) had no more right to them than any other American.

 

I see alot of unresolved issues regarding these huge mammals that are not being addressed by the people who are deciding "I got rights" while ignoring the rights of the peoples living beyond their horizon. As far as the article posted it sounds to me like the dugongs need to be protected from ALL the claims to their meat, equally.

[Cedars]

Another extremely rare whale died last week:

 

Another right whale killed by ship - LiveScience - MSNBC.com