Whaling: Right or Wrong?

[gangrel441]

First off they aren't taking 200 they are taking almost 1000 minke whales.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4417462.stm

Also you know why there are so many Minke whales left? Because they are SMALL. The smallest baleen whale. That's the origin of their name. Whalers didn't even bother killing them until they had hunted larger whales into near extinction. Minke have only come under large scale hunting in the past 100 years. It's kind of amazing that we can watch a dozen or so whale species get hunted until their chance of remaining as a species is threatened but then say "But there are lots of Minke". There used to be lots of ALL OF THEM.

Chris

Yes, but Minkes are not endangered, nor are they in any danger of becoming endangered. Have their numbers significantly dropped in the last year? The last decade? If not, then drawing comparisons to endangered species is twisting the facts, plain and simple.

 

[gangrel441]

Frankly, my opinion of Greenpeace is no higher than my opinion of shark-finners.

Amen to that!!!

 

[Supernal]

I don't think animals as intelligent as whales should be hunted. I don't know about hunting in general. I'm not a vegetarian - maybe hunting is a more honest way of getting your meat than going to a supermarket where the whole process is hidden?

 

[Captain CaveMan]

LOL...it's "weak", the word you are looking for...or is it "month"? And you mistyped a word in your inane sig...a sig I have seen all over this board. It wasn't a typo. You re-read it plenty of times I'm sure.

You said it, I didn't.

Ha Ha funny

I think you can tell a lot about a person by the effort they put into their communication medium of choice. You may disagree. At the very least, it makes me question the rest of your educational background and wonder whether or not you have any clue as to what you are saying when you tell us taking a few hundred whales won't matter to the ecology of the ocean and planet at large.

Because I doubt you have, say, a postgraduate degree in marine biology. Just a guess.

Ok you proved that i do not have the best spelling and English skill. so . And i did go to collage. I got a bachelors in Diesel Tech. I can take a entire car/truck/tractor/ anything mechanical and fix it. thats what I'm good at. I WORK WITH MY HANDS.. Next time your car takes a *****, read the comments left from the tech. I'm sure there is going to be 2-(alot) of words miss spelled or incomplete sentences. but they can fix your car. Something you will never know how to do.


AND I LIKE LOGGING---lol lol lol lol

 

[gangrel441]

I don't think animals as intelligent as whales should be hunted. I don't know about hunting in general. I'm not a vegetarian - maybe hunting is a more honest way of getting your meat than going to a supermarket where the whole process is hidden?

Absolutely agreed. But this is a judgement call made based on how much we value the intelligence of the whales, not an environmental one based on danger posed to the existence of the whales. If we allow blue or humpback whales to be hunted, they will not be here for our kids. If we allow Minkes to be hunted in the numbers that are taken by Japan, they will be able to sustain their population and will not likely disappear or become endangered.

As I said earlier, if you want a cause to get behind for the good of a species, try groupers. Or for that matter, wolves, bengal tigers, etc.

 

[Humuhumunukunukuapua'a]

Yes, but Minkes are not endangered, nor are they in any danger of becoming endangered. Have their numbers significantly dropped in the last year? The last decade? If not, then drawing comparisons to endangered species is twisting the facts, plain and simple.

I think he made the point very well that Minke's are only still around in large numbers because they weren't hunted like other species. However, every one of the whale species that was heavily hunted over the past 200 years now has a DRASTICALLY reduced population, in many cases bringing the species very close to extinction.

So, if it's OK for Japan to take 1000 Minke's, then what about when the next country for whom whaling is a proud and noble tradition wants their 1000 whales? And the country after that?

The fact is that many whale species only exist today because of restictions placed on hunting. Hunting whales is not sustainable. Because of this fact, many countries ceased whaling entirely, and that is the only reason that Minke's are still around in large numbers. If every country had the attitude Japan does, then Minke's would be history too.

 

[Monkey Knife-fight]

Yes, but Minkes are not endangered, nor are they in any danger of becoming endangered. Have their numbers significantly dropped in the last year? The last decade? If not, then drawing comparisons to endangered species is twisting the facts, plain and simple.

Check your facts dude. It's like you're just using your own knowledge of cetacean ecology.

"There has been an unexpected collapse of in the numbers of the world’s most hunted whale, the minke. Scientists are saying that a sharp contraction in sea ice in Antarctica is the reason. The latest findings say that fallen by nearly half in less than a decade. A count of minke whales in the Southern Ocean around the Antarctic, between 1985 and 1991, were estimated at about 760,000. The latest counts, during the 1990’s, suggest there are now only about 380,000 left. No one knows why their numbers are dropping. Global warming is the main suspect, since krill on which they feed live at the edge of the sea ice."

http://www.ecobridge.org/content/g_dgr.htm

Jesus at least have enough respect to check your facts before sounding off. You are putting forward false information as facts. Sounds like Minke are thriving let's kill more!

Chris

 

[gangrel441]

I think he made the point very well that Minke's are only still around in large numbers because they weren't hunted like other species. However, every one of the whale species that was heavily hunted over the past 200 years now has a DRASTICALLY reduced population, in many cases bringing the species very close to extinction.

So, if it's OK for Japan to take 1000 Minke's, then what about when the next country for whom whaling is a proud and noble tradition wants their 1000 whales? And the country after that?

The fact is that many whale species only exist today because of restictions placed on hunting. Hunting whales is not sustainable. Because of this fact, many countries ceased whaling entirely, and that is the only reason that Minke's are still around in large numbers. If every country had the attitude Japan does, then Minke's would be history too.

Ahh...but Japan is the only country that has such an exemption, and as far as I understand, they are the only country that ever will. And the number of whales that Japan takes in a year is regulated by the treaty. If you are going to argue in hypotheticals, at least try to use feasable ones.

 

[Captain CaveMan]

I don't know about hunting in general. I'm not a vegetarian - maybe hunting is a more honest way of getting your meat than going to a supermarket where the whole process is hidden?

Hunting is something we have been doing since there has been people on the earth.
I hate going to the store to get meat, you do not know what the animal eat. like (mad cow) got started. true animals in the woods do get sick but nature takes its place and lets the die. hunting animals is safer to eat. nothing like a corn feed deer... we live in corn Fields here in IL.

 

[H2Andy]

i just don't see the harm in Japan hunting 940 minke whales, given their
current population levels, sorry. only Iceland and Norway also hunt minkes, both less than Japan, around 600 whales each. So we're talking around 2,200
whales out of 950,000 or so... that is sustainable.

i do hate Japan's smug flaunting of the agreements they've signed. i also
don't like how they call it "scientific" hunting, when that is b.s.

The latest counts, during the 1990’s, suggest there are now only about 380,000 left.

the 2004 figures as i quote, are an estimated 950,000, with a "95% confidence
interval."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minke_whale

no question that all the other whales were driven to the brink of extinction by over-whaling. but keep in mind that roughly 110,000 minkes were caught, total, between
1915 and 2000 ... in other words, they as a species never came under the
pressures of hunting.