Should whaling be stopped?

Question

The Japanese are about to start hunting rare whales again. Should they be stopped before the whales are extinct?

At the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting last week the whalers confirmed that they will once again hunt up to 935 minke whales and 10 endangered fin whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
They claim that they hunt for 'scientific research'. Does 'scientific research' include selling the whales? Does it include killing whole families? Does it include making orphans that will die without their mother's protection and teaching?
Think what will happen if the whales became extinct. Whole ecosystems would change, even be complety destroyed.

Answer 1

Absolutely, this upsets me greatly, many of the products that come from the whaling, such as lipstick, soap, just to name a few can be manufactured with chemical alternatives some from plants that are grown yearly, and replanted ,without endangering the envirnment and without endangering the oceans creatures. The problem is greed and its cheaper, and easier, Its hard to believe what business men abroad do, without any consideration for the future.

Answer 2

It depends on your priorities. It's like asking if the selling of heroin should be stopped. As long as there's a market, the practice will continue. There is obviously a market sector in Japan which believes that the benefit they derive from the bodies of the whales overrides the potential extinction of the species. We tend to get very self-righteous about things which have no impact on our lives. Not many people benefit from killing whales, so it's an easy target. On the other hand, we know that driving cars is bad for the environment, we know that watching most television is detrimental to childhood development, that alcohol contributes to many deaths every day, and so on. How would each of us feel if cars or television or alcohol were made illegal? I don't think you're going to find too many people who are seriously in favor of wiping out such an incredible animal, but I think it's more important to examine our own individual behavior and how it affects the overall health and well-being of all our fellow creatures.

Answer 3

I think the whaling ships will be nuked by the radical environmentalist...and I will applaud them.
Note* No Japanese village depends on whaling for a living...Some people here don't seem to realise just how wealthy Japan is. The whale meat is sold in expensive restaurants....but the bulk of the whale meat goes to waste. The Japanese are hunting whales to extinction as a matter of principle. They are not going to be told what to do.

Answer 4

This is a tough question. Should tobacco be stopped? It ( whaling) is sometimes the only means to support a village, or a people. I wish there was an immidiate way to compensate all people who live off of whaling, so they would not have to do it anymore. That way It could be stopped, but like the tobacco industry and others, it supplies an awful lot of people with a living. Should it be stopped? YES! Can it be stopped? Unfortunately, NO.

Answer 5

Honestly, this is ridiculous. I do care for my enviroment and I care for nature but some of this is ridiculous. I care more for people and our needs than I do for some whale that does nothing but get on the news and chew on plankton. Its like in some cases where a farmer can't kill a bear when the bear is mauling all the farmer's sheep. Its ridiculous. Get your priorities straight.

If the Japanese want to do that, well it isn't actually wrong even if it isn't a great thing.

Answer 6

Any form of hunting that over-exploits its prey is doomed.
It makes no sense to hunt creatures to extinction, or destroy the eco-systems that support life, including ourselves.

It is a desparate farmer that kills all their animals or eats all their seed corn, or degrades their soil. However many feel driven to do this by poverty, culture, frustration etc.

Consider how our life-style might be killing whales - climate change, rising sea temperatures, changes in salinity and currents, nitratates, agro-chemicals and other pollutions, pcbs, oil spills, destruction of coastal mangrove "nursuries", over fishing, sonar (especially high power military systems), high speed recreational boats with open propellers ...

Answer 7

what happens when u add culture to the mix? n St. Vincent, Whaling is a cultural tradition, passed down from generations. a man who catches a whale has the ultimate sign of manhood. what happens there? destroy a culture for the sake of literally 2 whales? (cause they dont do ii often) Its a nationwide thing and they try to use as much of the whale as possible.

Answer 8

Maybe the North Koreans are aware of this and their new missle is specifically designed to target Japanese whaling ships.

Answer 9

Definitely, they are key to the ecosystem. The right whale is in extreme danger.

Answer 10

Yes, But what happens if the whale population gets too large?????

Do we hunt them again???

Or do we just leave them???