Can You Hear The Whales Wailing?
InSITE reporter Lucy Windall looks at whale hunting and argues against what she sees as the heartless killing of these beautiful marine animals.
Some of the most amazing creatures that we have here on earth are whales. There are over 80 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises all over the world, but whales, the huge beautiful creatures that roam our seas are still falling prey to humans.
I bet you didn’t know that Blue whales are the largest animals on earth, so large that 50 humans could stand in a Blue whale’s mouth. Sei whales are one of the fastest whales reaching speeds of 50 km/h. Fin whales are the second largest of all animals on earth and can leap completely out of the water. Right whales live the longest of all whales, with records of one living up to 211 years old. But these four great whales plus many others are on the endangered species list and it is shocking that some countries want to resume the mass hunting of these amazing creatures.
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is the organisation that protects whales and sets rules for whaling all over the world. They protect certain species; create whale sanctuaries where whales are kept safe, and decide which whales should not be hunted because of their size and number. Over 77 countries are members of the IWC and include both pro and anti whaling countries. Because of the effect that the hunting of whales was having on population stocks the IWC put in place a 21-year global moratorium on commercial hunting to give the species time re-populate.
The IWC allocates permits to some member countries to hunt certain whales for scientific reasons. The permit means that the meat can also be used after it’s tested and sold to the food industry. Since 1987, Japan has been doing annual whale hunting for scientific reasons killing nearly 1,000 whales every year. This ‘scientific research’ is monitored by the IWC. Some people think that Japan and Greenland are using the permits as an excuse to hunt whales and use whale meat for food(which is a delicacy in Japan.) Greenpeace’s whale expert, John Frizell, said, "For too long the 'scientific' loophole has provided commercial whalers with a 'fig leaf' of respectability. The IWC should move to end the scandal of scientific whaling and end the scientific exemption."
But now Japan is pushing to resume their century old tradition of hunting whales for food on a larger commercial scale as it argues that some of the stocks of whales have recovered enough to start hunting again. This is despite an IWC vote in June 2007 in favour of keeping the moratorium on whale hunting in place. Japan is now considering walking away from the IWC and setting up a rival organisation where they can hunt more whales and not be bound by the IWC’s rules. Greenland also wants to increase the number of whales they can hunt.
In an interview with BBC David Attenborourgh said, “There is no humane way to kill a whale at sea.” I agree it is shocking and upsetting that these beautiful marine animals that have lived peacefully in our waters for over 50 million years, have, for no apparent reason become food and prey to humans. They deserve to be loved and cared for by us for we have polluted their oceans and killed many of their species; they are such beautiful creatures that it would be a crime to start killing them again.
Here’s what some young people from Herefordshire think about whaling:
Name: Lucy
Age: 15
Lives: Herefordshire
Do you think whaling is cruel? Yes, I think it is cruel because they are animals and they have a right to live too.
Do you think all whales should be protected? Yes, but I think this would be difficult to do.
Name: Kate
Age: 14
Lives: Hereford
Do you think whaling is cruel? Yes, it’s like cruelty to animals and there is no one to speak for them.
Do you think all whales should be protected? Yes, especially in Japan because there are many people who eat whale there.
Name: Kelly
Age: 15
Lives: Hereford
Do you think whaling is cruel? Yes, I think whaling is cruel.
Do you think all whales should be protected? I think all whaling should be banned and no whales should be hunted.
Name: Duncan
Age: 15
Lives: Withington
Do you think whaling is cruel? Maybe. Well it’s cruel in one sense, but we also need whale's for things so maybe it’s not that cruel.
Do you think all whales should be protected? I don’t know whether hunting should be banned, because there might not be way to cut down on it.
