Japan, please stop whale hunting!

[Ewok85]

There are stricter guidelines to whaling than for instance deer hunting or the kangaroo cull.

The word cull is used with Kangaroo because kangaroos are killed off to keep the number down. To make it plain and simple - THERE IS TOO MANY.

As for animal welfare what is more cruel? To be raised in a factory farm only to get killed so that we can eat hamburgers and wear our sneakers made of leather or be free and then get unlucky and end up being a whale hamburger. I would much rather be a free whale than a meat producing bull.

You are a thinking person who has desires, goals and the ability to make the logical steps required to know that there is better. A cow does not have this, not even close. Meanwhile dolphins and some small whales have shown amazing intelligence which cows do not - social order, language control and understanding, tool use, self awareness etc.

If it is environmental reasons. Whale meat is much more environmental friendly than eating beef, lamb or pork.

Hah, thats ridiculous. Millions of cows, sheep and pigs have been bred in captivity to provide for us. Whale numbers are unknown, unmanaged and can be severely harmed by just picking them off without taking careful consideration. Do you know how many female whales were killed last year by the Japanese whaling fleet? Do you realise how many were pregnant or calving? The number isn't insignificant. The issue is compounded by the fact that whales live far longer lives than cows or sheep, gestation and calving periods are far longer as well.

Whales face a far greater risk of extinction, which is the bigger environmental risk.

 

[centrajapan]

The word cull is used with Kangaroo because kangaroos are killed off to keep the number down. To make it plain and simple - THERE IS TOO MANY.

They are regarded as "pests" because there are too many because they want to make more grace land for cows and because the eco system is out of balance. Yet Australia has managed to wipe out a number of kangaroo spiecies and they say because there are "too many" Australia seems to be the most cluess nation on this earth if you ask me.

You are a thinking person who has desires, goals and the ability to make the logical steps required to know that there is better. A cow does not have this, not even close. Meanwhile dolphins and some small whales have shown amazing intelligence which cows do not - social order, language control and understanding, tool use, self awareness etc.

How do you know this? Do you have any cow friends? Is your cousin half cow/pig? Minke whales have less IQ than a cow. Gene manipulation, groth hormones, not to mention the enregy which is used to catch them then transported only to be killed in the slaughter house. Over a million cows are getting killed each day. This on the expense of untouched nature destroying the natural eco system.

Lets agree here. Taking animals from the wild is indeed much more eco friendly than taking domestic animals.

Hah, thats ridiculous. Millions of cows, sheep and pigs have been bred in captivity to provide for us.

The use of selective equipment to catch marine fish and mammals is perhaps the most environmentally-sound way of producing food for human consumption today: the environment remains unaffected, energy use is low in relation to yield, and there is no pollution from fertilisers, pesticides or other chemicals.

Explore Norway

Are you aware of the impact of mass beef farming? I suppose you have heard of Mc Donalds and Betty the Cow cutting down the Amazon. No?

 

[Pepe]

Sorry, I meant Bison. And I didn't say that they were extinct, but I understand how my sentence can be misleading. I meant 'hunting towards the point of extinction'. Bison where as common as 'roos in Oz, where they not? And they were hunted for the act of just shooting something, not for food or their skins, where they not? And even though there have been many small successes in the breeding programmes, the total number of Bison is still only a tiny fraction of that prior to the big hunts, no?

My point is that the Bison were almost hunted to extinction for no real purpose - they were not really a pest (although there are anecdotal reports of them being rather mean drunks), and often the carcasses where piled up and burnt (if that was an attempt at a BBQ = Epic Fail). Now considerable effort is being expended to bring the Bison back into it's former habitat and re-introduce it as a resource to the domestic market. That is a text-book example of resource mismanagement.

A whale is just a warm-blooded REALLY big fish, and as such a resource. Hell, technically humans are only a resource too.

 

[Rose Selavey]

The whale hunt must stop.

Japanese citizens please lobby your government to stop the so called scientific whale research which is to take place in these coming weeks and months, the Japanese whaling fleet will set sail this week for the Southern Ocean. For the first time, their catch will include 50 humpback whales, as well as 935 minke and 50 fin whales.

Humpbacks from Australian waters will be among those slaughtered, your friends or relatives may have returned recently from Australia and experienced watching these whales in their natural habitat, from one of the many whale watching tourist boats operating in Australia. These whales have no fear of boats or humans as they have grown up free of hunting. If the hunt goes on this season, this trust of human will have gone.

They are beautiful creatures and they need us to protect them, Southern Cross University researchers have challenged the Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research to a full debate on its program of ﾂ'scientific whaling', which this summer will include the killing of 50 Australian humpback whales.

Associate Professor Peter Harrison, director of the Southern Cross University Whale Research Centre, has refuted claims by the Institute that lethal research is necessary to obtain accurate information on these whales. SCU's Whale Research Centre has new non-lethal techniques for collecting genetic data on the humpback population.

Professor Harrison said the data was obtained by genetic testing, using the DNA in skin samples left behind in the water after photographically identified whales had breached, together with small biopsy samples of humpback whales from Alaska provided by one of the research partners, Professor Scott Baker from Oregon State University, USA.

It is time to stop, taking endangered species of whales!
Act now,
Please

 

[Sarapva]

I'm sure that if enough Japanese citizens wrote to their government complaining about the whale hunting, the government would have to take notice. I've read that in the U.S. government they believe that for every one letter written by a citizen, there are 100 more people who didn't write but feel the same way.

 

[Astroboy]

Majority of Japanese citizens support Whaling and object to extraordinary anti-whaling campaign outside Japan.

"Our planet should be shared by all creatures including human being, not dominated by only a specific group of countries or creatures. It is our brief that we should respect each other, getting over the difference of culture, ethic groups, species, etc. in order to achieve the sustainable world."

 

[Rose Selavey]

This may the first cultural clash for Australia over territories. While Japan has a historical argument for whaling, so to does Australia. The interesting thing is Australia has a current cultural reason for anti-whaling, unlike Japan. The whale has become a cultural icon for Australia, it encompasses all things Australian, the ability to change and evolve from a nation which once participated in the destruction and harvest of a species to one which embraces its survival. The humpback whales migrate past the east coast of Australia every year, playing and interacting with Australians, they usher in the holiday season, bringing the warmth with them. The importance of these creatures not only to the Australian physic but also to the Australian economy is the reason that in 2000, the Australian Whale Sanctuary was created within Australia's 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone in Antarctica. Under Australian law, hunting whales in the Sanctuary is a serious offence. Australian have every right to want to defend these creatures. This is not an emotional issue, if the Japanese want to kill whales then target non-endangered species in their own waters.

 

[Sarapva]

Do the Japanese whaling ships target whales within the sanctuary? I hope not. That's such a good idea to create a sanctuary for whales. I can see how migrating creatures are important to people. When I lived in Alaska, the Canada geese coming back in the spring was an uplifting sign that spring was on the way. It really lifts people's spirits, like being reassured that there is still life after the long cold winter.

Are the whales migrating now, Rose - the beginning of the Australian summer?

 

[Rose Selavey]

They finished migrating in the spring, the Humpbacks leave the warm waters in the north (far northern Australia) in the Australian winter and by the time the last come past Tasmania it is spring. The humpbacks have had there calves and head for the Antarctica for a feed at this time of year they congrate in the southern Ocean. The Japanese in the past have targeted the whales (caught and captured) in the whale sanctuary. Not sure if they will again this year, only time will tell.

 

[Sarapva]

The Japanese must know it's a whale sanctuary they're hunting in. Talk about disrespect, as well as blatant disregard for Australia. I hope they won't be able to get away with this much longer. Surely the IWC will be able to see what the Japanese are doing. Those whales and the people fighting for them are in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[GodEmperorLeto]

What are we supposed to do? Declare war on them?

 

[Sarapva]

No - I hope that the IWC will stop trying to compromise with Japan and expect them to follow the same "no whale hunting" rules that most of the rest of the world goes by. The hunters are the ones that are declaring war on the whales.

 

[Rose Selavey]

Well said Sara!

As to war the Antarctica will become in the next few decades a place of hostility as nations around the world fight for the natural resources in this vast wilderness.

 

[Sarapva]

Yes, and I think it's the same in the north pole too. I'm hoping the next generations will have more respect for the natural world than we do now.

 

[micheal56]

What i need to know about japan

Why do the japanese people allow the japanese government to kill whales ???

Japan is known around the world as whale killers & shortly you will not be welcome across the world for your barbaric 'cull for science' acts.


Shame on you japan !!!

 

[nice gaijin]

We have many threads on whaling in which you can voice your outrage, try not to make any more threads with misleading titles.

 

[Kyoto Returnee]

We have many threads on whaling in which you can voice your outrage, try not to make any more threads with misleading titles.

Could not agree more!

Mods: How about consolidating all the posts and threads into one thread if that's possible?

 

[Numark]

I completely understand people being against the hunting of whales, but they had better be vegetarian or vegan otherwise none of what they say makes any sense.

If you are against the slaughter of sentient beings for food that is fine, but don't try and draw distinctions between whales and animals such as cattle, goats, etc. All mammals that we eat are intelligent in thier own right and they all are hurt when they are killed.

So don't get up on your pedestal with a hamburger in your hand, because you are just making a fool of yourself.

 

[Sensationalist]

Whale Hunting

Please stop killing live stock ! Please stop killing whales ! Please, let's all just get a grip !

 

[sou-nano?]

why whales are special ?

Someone please explain me
why whales are special animals ?

why are they sacred?

I cannot understand it.

 

[Sensationalist]

Huh ??

Why do the japanese people allow the japanese government to kill whales ???
Japan is known around the world as whale killers & shortly you will not be welcome across the world for your barbaric 'cull for science' acts.
Shame on you japan !!!

Condemning Japan for whale hunting is like condemning the U.S. for destroying our ozone layer. The U.S. is known around the world as an ozone killer. You can't have it both ways Micheal. If the world is to condemn Japan for whale hunting then the world has to also condemn Scandinavian countries as well. How do you decide who's barbaric and who's not ?

 

[tanhql]

I completely understand people being against the hunting of whales, but they had better be vegetarian or vegan otherwise none of what they say makes any sense.
If you are against the slaughter of sentient beings for food that is fine, but don't try and draw distinctions between whales and animals such as cattle, goats, etc. All mammals that we eat are intelligent in thier own right and they all are hurt when they are killed.
So don't get up on your pedestal with a hamburger in your hand, because you are just making a fool of yourself.

so only vegetarians can speak against cannibalism?

 

[Numark]

so only vegetarians can speak against cannibalism?

Being as cannibalism is generally not the killing for sustenance (food), but for ritual or spiritual purposes, I would say it doesn't really apply to this situation.

Someone please explain me
why whales are special animals ?
why are they sacred?
I cannot understand it.

People differentiate whales from other mammals used for food (like cows, pigs and sheep) because they are believed to be more intelligent.

Whales are not generally believed to be sacred by any peoples that I know of, except maybe the Inuit, but they still hunt them anyway.

 

[tanhql]

Being as cannibalism is generally not the killing for sustenance (food), but for ritual or spiritual purposes, I would say it doesn't really apply to this situation.

what if it is for food? what if some penniless family living in some alley started killing strangers for food?

Someone please explain me
why whales are special animals ?
why are they sacred?
I cannot understand it.

they are not bred by humans for the purpose of food. pigs, cows, sheep, chickens etc, are bred in farm by humans for food, so it is accepted that the ultimate fate of these animals is to be killed for food. in fact, i've read on some website that said if humans don't domesticate these animals for food, they would have died out due to clearing of their natural habitat. on the other hand, pets are not domesticated for food; they are domesticated to keep humans company, so it is generally not accepted to eat dogs or cats etc.

 

[Numark]

we can what-if ourselves to death in any argument, but what i was talking about was only meant to imply non-human species