I'm going to tell of the recent developments in the Whaling World in very simple terms, not only because this will allow more people to participate in the discussion but also because I'm not too good with facts or figures or getting things right.

Commercial whaling has been outlawed for, ooh, ages now thanks to the work of your hippy parents and grandparents in the Sixties, but recently the Japanese (featured as the bad guys in such factually accurate war films as "Superman goes APE in Tokyo City" and "How to Kill Evil Races for Kids 2") have been leading the way for its reintroduction.

Now, the Japanese aren't playing as fairly as one would expect from a country on the losing side in World War 2 - after all, the German football team is renowned for its sportsmanship and complete lack of cheating, lying, dirty, wretched behaviour (especially when playing against England) - Japan is so keen to start whaling again that it is calling not only on other traditional whaling nations such as Norway to support its bid, but also on countries with no history of whaling - and, unbelievably, also getting support from countries with no coastline.

And so it all looks rather depressing from the point of view of the poor old whales, who are only just starting to recover from centuries of being killed for their blubber. And don't forget that whales are intelligent, rare creatures with a complicated language which can be heard for miles. I'm not suggesting, of course, that the Japanese are unintelligent, common people with a stupid language and an uncommon affection for the use of mobile phones to communicate, but you get my point.


Many of the great whale species are already nearly extinct, and a regrowth of commercial whaling spearheaded by Japan would undo the good conservation work done over the last few decades. Discuss.

And go here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5085706.stm

I agree with you, Japan doesnt need any more food (especially seafood) since cattle are being widely used in Japan now, and why would other countries support such an act? Money, simple as that, something like whale being introduced into the market with who knows what can be used from them like their oils and such would be a huge profit in countries.

Its a big economic move, its crap, how typical for Japanese investors with no sense for life be doing such a thing...

wait, the japs have recently been whaling? or they never stoped? if they have recently been, or want to start whaling, then yeah, they can be stopped. if they have been doing it for ever, then they wont take it so likely.

i mean, look what happend with the people living in centeral africa(like congo). they ate monkeys, and the world told em to stop, they said that they have been doing it for ever, so they wont stop. and then they ended up with Ebola Virus, and aids and other shit.

Are the Japanese overfishing in nearby seas too, let alone whaling. It's really sad to hear about the elimination of various creatures. As already stated, whales are pretty intelligent and it would be nice for the future to witness them too.

I have a better idea. Let's just sell the ocean to entrepreneur farmer/fishermen around the globe. Instead of hunting for whales you'll be raising them on whale farms en masse. They'll have their own special slaughterhouses and everything.

Or, if you feel that accepting such a practice is inhumane, you could always have the UN enforce Japan to have some sort of huge-scale whale reservation where they can be raised by the bucketload and then sent out humanely to be killed.

Or, if you feel that's too inhumane still, you could always have the UN mandate that Japan make whaling banned in their country, thus allowing them to raise cattle en masse to be killed.

...And a stupid question will merit only a stupid answer.

If you don't care: don't post.

As for the topic at hand: The sharpest point of debate over whaling today concerns the conservation status of hunted species. Today there is widespread agreement around the world that it is morally wrong to exterminate a species of animal. The past unregulated whaling has depeleted the overall whale population to a significant extent and four species of whale are still endangered. Thus, it is unlikely, for instance, that the blue whale will be hunted again for the foreseeable future because its population levels have remained stagnant since the hunting ban was placed on them in the 1960's.

Written by Guest on 17.06.2006 at 16:19

...And a stupid question will merit only a stupid answer.

If you don't care: don't post.

Here, here! That's the sort of rough Scottish logic I appreciate. Anyone who doesn't give a fuck hasn't given the issue any thought. Dolphins and whales are among the most intelligent, vulnerable animals on earth. Killing them is like killing Stephen Hawking, and that's just wrong.
And even the Japanese public disagree with it, according to the poll shown on the link in my original post. Who COULD agree with it, apart from those people who make money from it - and how can they ever put forward a logical moral argument?

Written by Guest on 17.06.2006 at 16:19

...And a stupid question will merit only a stupid answer.

If you don't care: don't post.

If you think it is stupid, report it: instead of one spam, we now have two...

@ Senor: messages such as "please move to the Serious disucssions" will not influence our decision. I removed that part from your post.

....You ought to be looking at the "sex" thread if spam is your thing.

People Japan are not only country who hunt and kill them, even here in Europe norwegians hunt and kill wales and I read at firts post soemthing about football and i remeber Norway 0-2 Italy Italian ultrs made banner in oslo, ''eat psta not walles'' I just wanna see what hepen if Norwegian cops try to take away it, if Roma ultas was not afraid in 90ties made banner about Napoli cops, then why thays hood be afraid say what thay think about walle killing

Written by Bad English on 20.09.2006 at 11:22

People Japan are not only country who hunt and kill them, even here in Europe norwegians hunt

That's true. If I remember correctly people in Island hunt on whales too. They aren't that extreme and intensive as the Japanese hunters, but they do kill whales.

Anyway, my opinion about the topic, it is horrible that they kill the whales, and it should stop. However, don't the Japanese have a reason to kill those whales? They could kill them because they need the money, or because it gives them an economic boost. What will happen if they stop selling them? What are the consequences etc.

Besides that, It is wrong, the whales should be regenerated to their former amounts, and just live as a protected animal, but I think to solve this problem we should look at what goes wrong in Japan, and attack that point, and search for a solution.

How to solve it, I am not sure, let's just say we should protect those animals, and at least punish the people who still hunt at them.

@Blackgir - Me too I understand in old days whenh no electricit and ppl use swords and vikings rape Europe then pll hnt because thay need food, but nowdays its proove ppl cant life far to nord, in Mediterainia haha ewery day fresh weigatbles

OK iceland its far from Europa and its complicated quasten

Japan - Man what TV you use, hope Philiphs not Japanish but thay get a lot of from cars, TV , PCgames and stuff ok before WWII Japan was poor and themn maybe thay hunt for food, but nowdays

Me too think ppl shood be punished, but jail i doubt he feel it what wale feel, so sharks soemtiems i usefull

PS Hope Norway - Italy some day play football and again banner

It seems that the main reason why whales are killed is for their blubber. Can't humans search for an alternative substance for a blubber? this might help to some extent in reducing the killing of whales.

I think whaling is horrible. I cant believe people would actually consider harming these beautiful creatures. I think whaling should be stopped everywhere!
I just been whale watching and the whales came right up to the boat, and when you see them doing this, it makes you think what a very easy target they are for whalers. They are so vulnerable when it comes to whaling.

Check this out, I think it'll change your whole outlook on whaling, changed mine and it leaves you in awe and wander about the whole world, life and what humans think we know

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/killers-in-eden/introduction/1048/


NATURE's Killers in Eden examines a remarkable and mysterious partnership between killer whales and whalers.

On the southeast coast of Australia, the town of Eden nestles along the shores of Twofold Bay. It was once a center of Australia's thriving whaling industry, in part because it lies along the migration path of baleen whales swimming northward from the Antarctic. But residents say Eden's whalers got some unusual help ? from orcas, or killer whales, that patrolled offshore.

Locals such as Elsie Severs and Alice Otten who witnessed the hunts say the orcas took the lead in the hunt, herding larger migrating whales into the bay. Once the whales were confined in the bay, the orcas would then attack their quarry to the point of exhaustion. Human whalers moved in for the final kill ? then shared the spoils with the orcas.

Discover this extraordinary story of interspecies cooperation on NATURE's Killers in Eden.

Whales and Dolphines, these amazing lovely creatures don't deserve this:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9wzl6_glumbert-dolphin-massacre-in-japan_animals