...sight of them can make everybody smile. On the other hand, there are always cruel people out there wanting to take these amazing creatures from the world by killing them for food. This illegal act is called whaling. Japan is the leader of this horrifying act has long said it was their tradition and culture to kill whales. To this day there are many health concerns when it comes to eating a whale and many worries about the inhumane ways that whales get killed too. To compare history to today. In the past whales, have long been hunted for their blubber and oil to make light up lamps in the old days. This made many whaling companies rich. Whereas today...
Words: 870 - Pages: 4
...275,000 blue whales before the development of modern whaling in the mid-nineteenth century. By the 1960s, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimated that the number of blue whales had decreased to between 650 and 2,000.ʺ (Global Issues in Context Online Collection). The number of all whales has been decreasing and the Japanese whalers have been the major cause of the depletion of whales throughout history. The Japanese use whaling for to gather resources like whale meat and oils. I don’t believe that the Japanese should be using whaling for food and resources. First of all, when the whales die off, it greatly affects the ecosystem, in other words, the food chain. Another reason is that the international relations with the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Lastly, whaling does not provide the economic benefits that the Japanese thinks it does. Now let me give you a little background information on whaling. Whaling has gone on for centuries and it has been a necessity for people all over the world. The IWC does allow tribes like the Eskimos, who have hunted whales traditionally, to continue to hunt whales but they could only be a certain type of whale. Traditionally, there used to be a demand for whale oil as a lubricant for machines but these are synthetic so that means you don’t need to kill the whale you could just make. In 1987, the IWC imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling which means they were banned from killing whales for...
Words: 391 - Pages: 2
...commodities. And as for their meat? A single catch of a large sperm whale could feed a small coastal village for weeks. Although demand for whale meat is ailing and advancements in technology have replaced whale oil with more effective and practical substances, whales are still being hunted and killed. Despite a ban on all commercial whaling certain nations still continue to kill these animals, primarily Japan, Norway and Iceland. The populations of these animals are becoming...
Words: 2578 - Pages: 11
...Makah & maori whaling Whaling is a cultural aspect in Makah tribe. In Maori culture they don’t hunt whales because they see it as a spiritual animal. Makah uses whales for meat, blubber, bone and sinew, and products(Makah.com). The Maori tribe uses the whale as a spirit animal that helps guide them. Makah tribe been hunting whales for a long time. Archaeological evidence points back to 2,000 years (alamut.com). Maori tribe would be very upset with Makah tribe for killing whales. In this paper I will be talking about how the Makah tribe and the Maori tribe views of the whaling industry. Makah tribe culture is whaling. They do rituals,ceremonies.They get inspiration of tribal songs, dancing, designs, and basketry. Whaling of Makah is important...
Words: 404 - Pages: 2
...Commerical whaling is basically the killing of whales. To me I do not agree with commerical whaling at all. Why kill whales for the benefit of yourself ? Such as food ? I think that is what the main problem in society which is one of the main reasons to extinction. Kill a whale because you ( human ) need the food for your own type of survival while those who prey on them or feed off of them lose out on their food too? What sense does that make? None. Personally I think its just causing a major issue in our ecosystem. People dont see the consequences of killing other animals/plants does to us. Which makes them not care about...
Words: 586 - Pages: 3
...Effects of Whaling and the Ecology Whaling is one of the oldest human activity for hunting done by man since the beginning of time. Whaling can come with a cost, and result with a set of consequences that can affect the ecology and the world. The consequences of whaling can not only endanger and extinct whales, but destroy and kill the oceans that can eventually kill all life. Whaling is the hunting of whales primarily for meat and oil. It is believed that whaling dates back to a millenia. According to Encyclopedia infoplease.com, “whaling for subsistence dates to prehistoric times. The early people of Korea were hunting whales as far back as 5000 B.C., and those of Norway began whaling at least 4,000 years ago. Various peoples of the NW North American coast and the Arctic have a long tradition of whaling. Whaling, done from canoes or skin boats, often when migrating pods of whales passed nearby, was a very dangerous undertaking. Over time, many, such as the Qwidicca-atx (Makah) people of the Olympic peninsula, developed set spiritual and hunting practices that became the core of their culture.” The origins of commercial whaling started according to online encyclopedia infoplease.com: “The hunting of whales is thought to have been pursued by the Basques from land as early as the 10th cent. and in Newfoundland waters by the 14th cent. It is not until the middle of the 16th cent., however, that the appearance of Basques in those waters is established by record. Whaling on a large...
Words: 2121 - Pages: 9
...as materials for baskets and fishing lines. (“Diary of Extinction”). The limited technology humans had during this time prevented an imbalance in the number of whales hunted and the overall population of whales. However, with the introduction of the steam engine and steam powered ships, whaling rapidly commercialized and because of this the number of whales that could be killed and processed each year grew exponentially And while they were hunted for their meat and blubber during this time as well, industrial whaling allowed for more and more whales to be hunted and killed, decreasing the overall whale population by about 85% (Lusted). Whaling became a key factor in economics. Whale meat and oil soon began to circulate in international markets and trade, leading to thousands of more whales being killed each year....
Words: 1973 - Pages: 8
...scott,1) the population is very unstable and always under pressure. Factors that contribute to the the threat towards whales are traditions by natives and nations that claim the reason for their whaling is for “scientific reasons”. Arguments have flared up between whaleing nations against organized partys. During the summer whales migrate into the northern hemisphere because the colder water plays as excelent huntiong grounds. Whales never migrate to another geeding ground. They never break this migrating pattern. By going to the same feeding areas every summer whales are making it easyier for hunters to decide were they want to hunt. Japan, iceland, and norway are the top whaling nations. All of these nations continue to hunt by thinly disguiseing whaling as scientific reasons.(los angelos, The Nation, 1) Many argue that what they are doing is not proffesional and the practices are cruel. The procces involves harpooning a whale and dragging it around until it becomes tired. Once the whale has submitted, hundreds of thousands of volts are sent directly into the whale. The idea is supposed to kill the whale quickly, but instead it becomes a slow agonizing death. Beaty 2 Organized groups claim that these practices are inhumane. In 1986 the whaling commision banned commercial whaling. Antiwhaling nations want to create a sancutary in the southern ocean...
Words: 358 - Pages: 2
...Introduction Since the indefinite commercial whaling moratorium was introduced in 1986, the whaling nations have killed around 15,000 whales between them. At the time of writing, the Japanese whaling fleet has just returned from Antarctic waters where a further 300 or so minke whales have been killed for so called ‘research’, in open defiance of world public opinion and the IWC which has never validated the Japanese programme. The meat from those dead whales will end up on sale in Japanese restaurants and on supermarket shelves. Japan is not only defying the global moratorium on commercial whaling, it is killing whales in a sanctuary agreed by the IWC in 1994. Japan has ‘recruited’ many countries to the IWC to support the resumption of commercial whaling using foreign aid packages. If the ban is lost it will be a disaster for whale conservation efforts. This report presents the many reasons why the ban on commercial whaling must be maintained and properly enforced. We cannot wipe away the tragic history of commercial whaling, but we can, and must, prevent its repetition. The Natural History of Whales Whales belong to the order of mammals known as Cetacea. There are about 80 species of cetaceans, including all the dolphins and porpoises, as well as the ten so-called ‘great’ whale species, which have borne the brunt of commercial whaling. Cetaceans are believed to have evolved from land mammals, which adapted to an aquatic existence about 50 million years ago. They are superbly...
Words: 8170 - Pages: 33
...Moby Dick to express his theme. Anti-Transcendentalism plays a large role in his writing as well. Captain Ahab’s leg is a symbol used to express natures mark on man along with anti-transcendentalist ideas. Melville also uses Moby Dick to represent man vs nature. Captain Ahab’s leg and Moby Dick represent anti-transcendentalist ideas and are symbols throughout the story. Captain Ahab is the captain of the Pequod whaling ship in the story. The singular purpose of the Captain’s whaling mission is to hunt down and kill a whale name Moby Dick. In his previous encounter with Moby Dick the Captain lost his leg to the whale. In place of his real leg the Captain has a prosthetic leg made of out whale bone. The Captain’s bone leg has quite a few meanings. It represents struggle to readjust to life, the want for vengeance, and anger. The Captain wants to invoke vengeance on Moby Dick because of his unrightful taking of his leg. This strong anger towards Moby Dick makes him obsessed on getting revenge. He offers a reward to all of the crew members aboard the boat for whoever kills Moby Dick; “Whosoever of ye raises me a while headed whale, with three holes punctured in his starboard fluke - look ye, whosoever of ye raises me that same white whale, he shall have this gold ounce, my boys” (Melville 4). This reward offering shows that the Captain will go to the ends of the sea and back in order to have Moby Dick killed. This relates strongly to anti-transcendentalism in the sense of revenge...
Words: 567 - Pages: 3
...but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody's expense but his own.” This is one of the quotes in the book that really stick out. It can be applicable to a lot of people throughout the ages. Moby-Dick is very much a classic as it was written awhile back. Herman Melville set the time around the same time he published Moby-Dick in Pittsfield, Massachusetts around 1850. Ishmael, the narrator, does have experience as a sailor but this is the first time he goes whaling. While staying at a whaler's inn he meets Queequeg, a harpooner from the south and also a cannibal. After a while the two men become friends and begin looking for work on a whaling vessel together. In Nantucket, they end up getting a job on a boat called the Pequod. The captain of the Pequod is Ahab, who has recently lost a leg in a fight against Moby Dick. The Pequod sets out and as the ship reaches warmer and calmer waters, Ahab makes his entrance to the rest of the crew. He tells them his intention to kill Moby Dick, the great white whale that took his leg. Ahab sees Moby Dick as a main symbol of evil. As motivation for the crew to help him, Ahab attaches a gold doubloon to the mast as a prize for the first man who catches sight of Moby Dick. As the crew hunts whales unsuccessfully, a group of men appear from below the ship. No one else has seen these men the whole time they were on their journey. Ahab readily admits to smuggling them on. They were an experienced group of...
Words: 786 - Pages: 4
...neglect it by giving it no attention. While I was doing the research for this essay, I thought non-stop about how a human being could break a dogs leg, back, or even neck and feel no sympathy for the dog? Are some people in this world that heartless that they have no feelings for other living things? I wonder if you asked a person that has abused an animal if they would do the same things they did to the animal to another human being? All over the world the suffering and killing of animals are often known as a sport or science research. In Canada, thousands of seals are killed. Are they killed because us humans need them to live? No, Canadian fisherman use sealing as an off-season activity just to pass the time. Sealing is when fishermen kill seals...
Words: 1770 - Pages: 8
...Unit 6 Written Assignment Japan and Norway: A cultural case for the exemption from an international ban on whaling. Introduction and the Japanese and Norwegian position Japan Japan is certainly one of the two countries, and the only country in Asia to make the claim that Whaling should be permitted for certain Whale stocks. The practice of hunting Whales can be traced back to over 1,000 years. And, in turn there are records that show Jimmu, the first Emperor, who rein circa 660BC himself ate Whale meat. However, it wasn’t until the 17th century, which saw a major development in the techniques associated with hunting Whales. In the Meiji era (1868-1912) saw the controversial introduction of powered gun vessels, actually inspired by Norwegian...
Words: 747 - Pages: 3
...to study whales without killing them. The Japanese authorities claim to base their arguments for whaling on science, but in fact invest heavily in emotive messages - for example, that whaling is an integral part of the national culture • There is no national culture of whaling in Japan; there are local cultures, but there are also local cultures that regard whales as gods, where killing them would be unthinkable • Successive governments have placed a high priority on ensuring a plentiful supply of fish through diplomacy, often building relationships with developing countries possessing productive coastal waters They say analysis of the whales' faeces lets them examine their stomach contents minutely. Japan says the need to find out about the animals' diets is one reason why it kills hundreds of whales every year. The new approach was developed by Australian and US researchers, who collected blue whale faeces in nets. The animals discharge them as a thin brown cloud near the ocean surface. Using DNA testing, the researchers established what the whales had eaten and also a distinctive "signature" for each animal, as well as the internal parasites the whales were carrying. The research was revealed by Dr Nick Gales, a principal research scientist at the Australian Environment Department's Antarctic division. He said: "We will be telling the International Whaling Commission that this is a robust, non-lethal method for studying whales. Dr Gales said the DNA method...
Words: 272 - Pages: 2
...Endangered Species Think back to the first time you went to the zoo. Do you remember the excitement you felt when you got your first glimpse of a tiger? Or maybe your favorite animal was an elephant. These species and many others are in danger of becoming extinct. I’m going to explain to you the process to get a species listed as endangered and the protective measures taken to help them recover. I’ll also talk about the success rate of these efforts. The first step to protecting a threatened species is to get them listed. The process to have a species added to the list can take up to a year. Species are listed by 2 classifications, threatened or endangered. A threatened species is a species that could become endangered in the near future without proper protection. An endangered species is a species that could become extinct. To start the process someone must first file a petition or conduct a survey of the species. Anyone can file a petition providing there is enough biological evidence to warrant further investigation. Members of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services or the National Marine Fisheries Service complete the surveys. Several factors help determine if a species is in need of protection. A few of those factors are: Changes in habitat, over utilization due to commercial and recreational purposes, disease or predation, and inadequate regulatory Laws. Within 90 days of receiving the petition or survey they must decide if further investigation is warranted. If it...
Words: 1737 - Pages: 7
