Is hunting for whales ever okay?

[Syriusly]

From the article,

"The latest figures show that of 333 minke Antarctic whales killed last summer, 181 were females. Some 122 females, or 67 per cent, were pregnant.

The hunt killed 61 immature males and 53 immature females – 114 in total."

Have no idea how many estimated Minke Whales there are in the oceans, but that is a lot of pregnant whales being harvested in a single year.

I find Japans science research statement claims to be hollow, it has the smell of trying to legitimize the scale of harvesting them for food.

Of course it's hollow, but it's the loophole they are allowed to harvest whales for consumption.

Their culture finds nothing wrong with it, so who are we to judge?

Yeah- that was kind of the point of the dog eating thing. I understand people who object to those who eat dogs or horses or whales or whatever- they relate on some level to those animals.

But on a moral and biological level there is no difference.

 

[OldLady]

Chapter 87 of Moby Dick made me cry. No, don't hunt them. We don't need them. The whole chapter is in the link, but I think you can get the idea.

But far beneath this wondrous world upon the surface, another and still stranger world met our eyes as we gazed over the side. For, suspended in those watery vaults, floated the forms of the nursing mothers of the whales, and those that by their enormous girth seemed shortly to become mothers. The lake, as I have hinted, was to a considerable depth exceedingly transparent; and as human infants while suckling will calmly and fixedly gaze away from the breast, as if leading two different lives at the time; and while yet drawing mortal nourishment, be still spiritually feasting upon some unearthly reminiscence;- even so did the young of these whales seem looking up towards us, but not at us, as if we were but a bit of Gulfweed in their new-born sight. Floating on their sides, the mothers also seemed quietly eyeing us. One of these little infants, that from certain queer tokens seemed hardly a day old, might have measured some fourteen feet in length, and some six feet in girth. He was a little frisky; though as yet his body seemed scarce yet recovered from that irksome position it had so lately occupied in the maternal reticule; where, tail to head, and all ready for the final spring, the unborn whale lies bent like a Tartar’s bow. The delicate side-fins, and the palms of his flukes, still freshly retained the plaited crumpled appearance of a baby’s ears newly arrived from foreign parts.

“Line! line!” cried Queequeg, looking over the gunwale; “him fast! him fast!- Who line him! Who struck?- Two whale; one big, one little!”

“What ails ye, man?” cried Starbuck.

“Look-e here,” said Queequeg, pointing down.

As when the stricken whale, that from the tub has reeled out hundreds of fathoms of rope; as, after deep sounding, he floats up again, and shows the slackened curling line buoyantly rising and spiralling towards the air; so now, Starbuck saw long coils of the umbilical cord of Madame Leviathan, by which the young cub seemed still tethered to its dam. Not seldom in the rapid vicissitudes of the chase, this natural line, with the maternal end loose, becomes entangled with the hempen one, so that the cub is thereby trapped. Some of the subtlest secrets of the seas seemed divulged to us in this enchanted pond. We saw young Leviathan amours in the deep.

The sperm whale, as with all other species of the Leviathan, but unlike most other fish, breeds indifferently at all seasons; after a gestation which may probably be set down at nine months, producing but one at a time; though in some few known instances giving birth to an Esau and Jacob:- a contingency provided for in suckling by two teats, curiously situated, one on each side of the anus; but the breasts themselves extend upwards from that. When by chance these precious parts in a nursing whale are cut by the hunter’s lance, the mother’s pouring milk and blood rivallingly discolor the sea for rods. The milk is very sweet and rich; it has been tasted by man; it might do well with strawberries. When overflowing with mutual esteem, the whales salute more hominum...
Chapter 87: The Grand Armada | Moby Dick | Herman Melville | Lit2Go ETC

 

[Ridgerunner]

Have you ever been to a slaughterhouse ??

They don't slaughter cows. They slaughter steers.

Why yes I have... I am going to guess that I have been to more slaughter houses and cattle auctions than you have... Growing up one of my best friends mother owned a slaughterhouse/packing plant in Terre Haute, Indiana... This was 50+ years ago...

Why would I want to talk whales with you when you know nothing about the beef packing business? My offer still stands on teaching you the finer points of beef consumption...

 

[martybegan]

From the article,

"The latest figures show that of 333 minke Antarctic whales killed last summer, 181 were females. Some 122 females, or 67 per cent, were pregnant.

The hunt killed 61 immature males and 53 immature females – 114 in total."

Have no idea how many estimated Minke Whales there are in the oceans, but that is a lot of pregnant whales being harvested in a single year.

I find Japans science research statement claims to be hollow, it has the smell of trying to legitimize the scale of harvesting them for food.

Of course it's hollow, but it's the loophole they are allowed to harvest whales for consumption.

Their culture finds nothing wrong with it, so who are we to judge?

Yeah- that was kind of the point of the dog eating thing. I understand people who object to those who eat dogs or horses or whales or whatever- they relate on some level to those animals.

But on a moral and biological level there is no difference.

The funny thing is they do allow Inuit populations to hunt whales for the express purpose of consumption, but for some reason the Japanese have to go through the whole "research" thing.

I guess one type of asiatic is more equal than the other.

 

[Sunsettommy]

From the article,

"The latest figures show that of 333 minke Antarctic whales killed last summer, 181 were females. Some 122 females, or 67 per cent, were pregnant.

The hunt killed 61 immature males and 53 immature females – 114 in total."

Have no idea how many estimated Minke Whales there are in the oceans, but that is a lot of pregnant whales being harvested in a single year.

I find Japans science research statement claims to be hollow, it has the smell of trying to legitimize the scale of harvesting them for food.

Of course it's hollow, but it's the loophole they are allowed to harvest whales for consumption.

Their culture finds nothing wrong with it, so who are we to judge?

Yeah- that was kind of the point of the dog eating thing. I understand people who object to those who eat dogs or horses or whales or whatever- they relate on some level to those animals.

But on a moral and biological level there is no difference.

The funny thing is they do allow Inuit populations to hunt whales for the express purpose of consumption, but for some reason the Japanese have to go through the whole "research" thing.

I guess one type of asiatic is more equal than the other.

The difference is that Inuit harvest very few whales each year, in each region they live in thus the impact on the whales population is low while Japan harvest over 100 PREGNANT whales alone in a single year, that could hurt future whale counts.

It is ILLEGAL for commercial hunting anyway since hunting was BANNED back in the early 1980's, the study angle Japan argues for is the loophole being exploited.

 

[martybegan]

From the article,

"The latest figures show that of 333 minke Antarctic whales killed last summer, 181 were females. Some 122 females, or 67 per cent, were pregnant.

The hunt killed 61 immature males and 53 immature females – 114 in total."

Have no idea how many estimated Minke Whales there are in the oceans, but that is a lot of pregnant whales being harvested in a single year.

I find Japans science research statement claims to be hollow, it has the smell of trying to legitimize the scale of harvesting them for food.

Of course it's hollow, but it's the loophole they are allowed to harvest whales for consumption.

Their culture finds nothing wrong with it, so who are we to judge?

Yeah- that was kind of the point of the dog eating thing. I understand people who object to those who eat dogs or horses or whales or whatever- they relate on some level to those animals.

But on a moral and biological level there is no difference.

The funny thing is they do allow Inuit populations to hunt whales for the express purpose of consumption, but for some reason the Japanese have to go through the whole "research" thing.

I guess one type of asiatic is more equal than the other.

The difference is that Inuit harvest very few whales each year, in each region they live in thus the impact on the whales population is low while Japan harvest over 100 PREGNANT whales alone in a single year, that could hurt future whale counts.

It is ILLEGAL for commercial hunting anyway since hunting was BANNED back in the early 1980's, the study angle Japan argues for is the loophole being exploited.

They should have just let the Japanese hunt whales in a limited number for commercial purposes, and allowed them to not have to go through the rigermaroles of playing the research game.

And the fact there are that many pregnant whales is a good thing. Considering the species in question isn't endangered I don't see the issue.

Antarctic minke whale - Wikipedia

The Antarctic minke whale is currently considered Data Deficient by the IUCN red list. However, the IUCN states that the population size is "clearly in the hundreds of thousands".[3]

 

[bripat9643]

Japan slaughters more than 120 pregnant whales for 'research'

A lot of people are angry with Japan and Norway for hunting Minke whales. Minke whales are not endangered and the hunting of them is regulated. If eating cows and chickens isn't wrong then why is it wrong to eat a Minke whale?

We don't eat "cows".

Cows are used in the dairy industry and when they become old aged they become cat and dog food.

Chickens are birds, not mammals.

As far as livestock raising and butchering for meat, while this has never set well with animal rights activists, it has historically been a great source of protein and nutrition for humans.

As for whales, they are just another species of mammal. No different killing a whale than killing a steer.

We do kill and eat steers. Just not cows.

I disagree. Whales are intelligent animals. I think it's immoral to kill creatures capable of communicating with each other and eventually communicating with us.

 

[bripat9643]

From the article,

"The latest figures show that of 333 minke Antarctic whales killed last summer, 181 were females. Some 122 females, or 67 per cent, were pregnant.

The hunt killed 61 immature males and 53 immature females – 114 in total."

Have no idea how many estimated Minke Whales there are in the oceans, but that is a lot of pregnant whales being harvested in a single year.

I find Japans science research statement claims to be hollow, it has the smell of trying to legitimize the scale of harvesting them for food.

Of course it's hollow, but it's the loophole they are allowed to harvest whales for consumption.

Their culture finds nothing wrong with it, so who are we to judge?

Yeah- that was kind of the point of the dog eating thing. I understand people who object to those who eat dogs or horses or whales or whatever- they relate on some level to those animals.

But on a moral and biological level there is no difference.

The funny thing is they do allow Inuit populations to hunt whales for the express purpose of consumption, but for some reason the Japanese have to go through the whole "research" thing.

I guess one type of asiatic is more equal than the other.

The difference is that Inuit harvest very few whales each year, in each region they live in thus the impact on the whales population is low while Japan harvest over 100 PREGNANT whales alone in a single year, that could hurt future whale counts.

It is ILLEGAL for commercial hunting anyway since hunting was BANNED back in the early 1980's, the study angle Japan argues for is the loophole being exploited.

Minke whale - Wikipedia

The last population estimate by the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission was performed in 2004 and agreed upon a population estimate of 515,000 for the Antarctic minke stock

I doubt killing 300 of them is any danger to their survival, but I still think it's wrong to kill them.

 

[Wyatt earp]

I support renewable energy

It's funny most people won't get your post.

 

[fncceo]

I support renewable energy

It's funny most people won't get your post.

The cool ones will.

 

[martybegan]

From the article,

"The latest figures show that of 333 minke Antarctic whales killed last summer, 181 were females. Some 122 females, or 67 per cent, were pregnant.

The hunt killed 61 immature males and 53 immature females – 114 in total."

Have no idea how many estimated Minke Whales there are in the oceans, but that is a lot of pregnant whales being harvested in a single year.

I find Japans science research statement claims to be hollow, it has the smell of trying to legitimize the scale of harvesting them for food.

Of course it's hollow, but it's the loophole they are allowed to harvest whales for consumption.

Their culture finds nothing wrong with it, so who are we to judge?

Yeah- that was kind of the point of the dog eating thing. I understand people who object to those who eat dogs or horses or whales or whatever- they relate on some level to those animals.

But on a moral and biological level there is no difference.

The funny thing is they do allow Inuit populations to hunt whales for the express purpose of consumption, but for some reason the Japanese have to go through the whole "research" thing.

I guess one type of asiatic is more equal than the other.

The difference is that Inuit harvest very few whales each year, in each region they live in thus the impact on the whales population is low while Japan harvest over 100 PREGNANT whales alone in a single year, that could hurt future whale counts.

It is ILLEGAL for commercial hunting anyway since hunting was BANNED back in the early 1980's, the study angle Japan argues for is the loophole being exploited.

Minke whale - Wikipedia

The last population estimate by the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission was performed in 2004 and agreed upon a population estimate of 515,000 for the Antarctic minke stock

I doubt killing 300 of them is any danger to their survival, but I still think it's wrong to kill them.

The Japanese and the Inuit disagree on it being right or not.

That being said yes, the population appears to be quite healthy.

 

[Confounding]

Japan slaughters more than 120 pregnant whales for 'research'

A lot of people are angry with Japan and Norway for hunting Minke whales. Minke whales are not endangered and the hunting of them is regulated. If eating cows and chickens isn't wrong then why is it wrong to eat a Minke whale?

We don't eat "cows".

Cows are used in the dairy industry and when they become old aged they become cat and dog food.

Chickens are birds, not mammals.

As far as livestock raising and butchering for meat, while this has never set well with animal rights activists, it has historically been a great source of protein and nutrition for humans.

As for whales, they are just another species of mammal. No different killing a whale than killing a steer.

We do kill and eat steers. Just not cows.

I disagree. Whales are intelligent animals. I think it's immoral to kill creatures capable of communicating with each other and eventually communicating with us.

Pigs are quite intelligent too, and the octopus might be the most intelligent creature on Earth other than us. People eat a lot of both of those animals.

 

[yiostheoy]

Japan slaughters more than 120 pregnant whales for 'research'

A lot of people are angry with Japan and Norway for hunting Minke whales. Minke whales are not endangered and the hunting of them is regulated. If eating cows and chickens isn't wrong then why is it wrong to eat a Minke whale?

We don't eat "cows".

Cows are used in the dairy industry and when they become old aged they become cat and dog food.

Chickens are birds, not mammals.

As far as livestock raising and butchering for meat, while this has never set well with animal rights activists, it has historically been a great source of protein and nutrition for humans.

As for whales, they are just another species of mammal. No different killing a whale than killing a steer.

We do kill and eat steers. Just not cows.

I disagree. Whales are intelligent animals. I think it's immoral to kill creatures capable of communicating with each other and eventually communicating with us.

Pigs are quite intelligent too, and the octopus might be the most intelligent creature on Earth other than us. People eat a lot of both of those animals.

About the only taboo in the Animal Kingdom is cannibalism.

However fish tend to be very cannibalistic. 80% of them will be eaten by each other.

 

[yiostheoy]

Adult bears will cannibalize cubs because this brings the females back into estrus. African lions will do the same thing.

 

[yiostheoy]

I cannot bring myself to kill a non-human animal up close.

I need to do it with a rifle from far away.

I cannot watch the animal suffer. So I use the most powerful rifle in the world for the job.

With humans it is different. If a human is attacking someone else I can easily and quickly stop or kill them up close and personal with any one of my several different weapons without much regret. That's because I hate crime and evil people.

 

[Mr Natural]

No, never

 

[Confounding]

No, never

Why?

 

[Mr Natural]

No, never

Why?

Why would you want to kill a magnificent beast?

It has no commercial value.

 

[Confounding]

No, never

Why?

Why would you want to kill a magnificent beast?

It has no commercial value.

It's a delicacy that people pay a lot of money for. The whales in question are not endangered and the killing of them is regulated. To me it's no different than eating any other meat.

 

[bripat9643]

Japan slaughters more than 120 pregnant whales for 'research'

A lot of people are angry with Japan and Norway for hunting Minke whales. Minke whales are not endangered and the hunting of them is regulated. If eating cows and chickens isn't wrong then why is it wrong to eat a Minke whale?

We don't eat "cows".

Cows are used in the dairy industry and when they become old aged they become cat and dog food.

Chickens are birds, not mammals.

As far as livestock raising and butchering for meat, while this has never set well with animal rights activists, it has historically been a great source of protein and nutrition for humans.

As for whales, they are just another species of mammal. No different killing a whale than killing a steer.

We do kill and eat steers. Just not cows.

I disagree. Whales are intelligent animals. I think it's immoral to kill creatures capable of communicating with each other and eventually communicating with us.

Pigs are quite intelligent too, and the octopus might be the most intelligent creature on Earth other than us. People eat a lot of both of those animals.

Octopi are smart, but they are nowhere near as smart as ceteceans. Pigs are about as smart as dogs.