Whaling

check this out probably already saw it because it was the cover story on yahoo

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070228/...n_whaling_ship

I found it quite odd that the whales had to be killed inorder to get research data. It's just a poor excuse to all Japan to still hunt whales.

This has been a very touchy subject on a few boards. Each side gets stuck into the other and it doesnt stick to the subject it spirals into personal attacks. Most people are against whaling but to others it is a tradition just like knocking off a cow or pig. I dont like whaling but in a very controlled manner it can be sustainable just like most other things.
Just my opinion.

Matt

Sorry to bring my religious views into this but my opinion is that God created creatures for us (man) to enjoy and share this earth with. Killing for food is one thing but killing without justification is wrong, period.
I suppose each has his/her own definition of justification but we know right from wrong, even if we chose to ignore it.

Yeh, I am def. a meat eater, so I can't really say anything about that. But doesn't it seem a little odd that hundreds of whales have to be killed every year to do research?? I wonder what the reasoning is behind that?

Seasnake I fully agree. Just admit that it's a tradition, and you want them for the food. The research aspect just baffles me. If it's sustainable that's one thing but if it's not maybe the tradition has to be stopped, or reduced to keep it for future generations. I know in the states that the Native Americans are criticized for killing a few whales in the norther pacific, and they are using hand crafted wooden boats that they are paddling by hand. There I could see maybe it's a tradition, but using a fleet of six solid steel boats isn't a tradition.

I don't like the idea of killing whales, but most of what they hunt are Minkes, which are not endangered, and the quantities they are taking are sustainable. The meat is sold, distributed, and consumed, and there is a wealth of data collected and shared that comes from the hunt. The types of data collected could not be collected from live observation or examination of beached animals. Data such as quantities of various pollutants found in the blubber of healthy animals, stomach contents, weght, parasitic infections....

Whether you agree that they are truthful in their motives, they are taking a sustainable catch, they are using what they kill, and they are publishing data that the science community does find valuable.

Always two sides to the story....

I don't know but as long as it's 100% sustainable, maybe. I guess I just see eating a whale as Indian's see us eating cows. I would never do it and can't say I'm really for it. But gangrel you brought up a good point.