How Important Is Whaling Around The World?

The act of commercial whaling is inhumane. Japan says that they are doing ‘scientific research,’ right. Does the researched include all the economic data of how well whale meat sells domestically in Japan, along with all the other projects they make out of the whale carcasses. There can be some understanding that people need to eat and humans have been eating animals since we have been on this planet. People have domesticated some animals for this exact purpose. Cattle, pigs, and chickens being the main animals for this in the world. There is some argument of this matter about how humane current slaughtering practices are, but I see as how much pain the animal must go through. With these domesticated food sources, like with cattle they have this bolt pistol or some other conventional firearm, that they put up to the head of the animal and fire it. This kills the animal instantly or renders it unconscious before the animal is bled. How does this relate to whaling; the time of death. In whaling the whalers go into the ocean a shoot these harpoons with rope attached to it out of a cannon at the whales. At the tip of these harpoons there is a grenade that detonates right after the impact inside the whale (WDCSUK). This would probably kill anything else instantly, but since whales are so huge they have to wait a couple of minutes for the poor thing to bleed out.

In the nineteenth century, commercial whalers began using whole fleets to hunt whales, with each ship given a specific role. The largest ship, found at the center of the fleet, was the factory ship. At the heart of these ships are many tanks. Christopher Ash worked as chief chemist on the factory ship Balaena, and in his book Whaler’s Eye, comments on the massive tanks found in these ships. “Balaena really is a tanker, and almost all of her hull…is subdivided into thirty-six tanks. It is rather like an egg crate with nine rows, each of four tanks extending across the ship, and each tank able to take some five hundred tons of fuel or Diesel oil, which will be replaced—after cleaning—by whale or sperm oil, or perhaps meat meal; sometimes they must be filled with sea water as ballast. These tanks are impressively large, being well over thirty feet deep; so that when standing on the bottom and looking up to the one small square of light far above, it is difficult to believe that we can produce enough oil to fill the whole of that volume in twenty hours (Ash, 1962, p.19).” Underneath the tanks is the bottom of the boat. Above the tanks is the tank deck. This holds the centrifuges used to separate oil and glue water, as well as driers and bagging machines

The debate surrounding Makah whaling is a heated one to say the least. There are valid points on both sides of the argument, but there is one side I find to be more valid once the facts have been looked at. I will examine and present my findings regarding past and current laws and regulations related to whaling, types of whaling, other countries that take an active part in whaling (and why), as well as the Makah culture – both past and present. In this paper I will argue why the Makah should not be allowed to resume whaling, as it is unnecessary and could potentially put the grey whale species back on the endangered list.

Whaling was very physical and economic business and the primary products were spermaceti, whale bones, sperm, and whale oil. The Native Americans used whaling for tribal purposes. The colonist in NEw ENgland hunted whales for baleen and oil. Whaling also gave them better burning candles. This is how the number of hales began to decrease as time went on.

Though often seen as fierce killing machines, Orca whales, more commonly known as killer whales, are much different. In some ways, these mysterious creatures are much like humans. Many people are fascinated by these whales when they see them perform in marine parks such as SeaWorld. What most people don’t realize is that the life of these whales is not as great as it may seem. There is much evidence that proves captive life will never be adequate. There is no doubt that life in captivity is no match for life in the wild.

While many people have experienced the majestic showcasing of trained orcas in public displays at recreational parks such as SeaWorld, few have heard of the tragic events that these killer whales go through while in captivity. It is ironic that such family oriented companies like SeaWorld, who pride themselves in giving families experiences that they will never forget, can just tear families of killer whales apart and abuse them while training them. And although these public displays of trained orcas seem extraordinary through the audience’s eyes, it is time that the untold stories of these whales and the true dangers of training whales comes out into light.

Male killer whales typically live up to 30 years in the wild but can live for as long as 60 years. Female killer whales typically live up to 50 years but they can live as long as 100 years (“Killers”). In captivity, only a few out of the more than 200 whales that have been either captured in the wild or bred at the marine parks have lived beyond 40 years (Rose). Female killer whales become sexually active between 6-10 years of age and males between 10-13 years of age. Female killer whales in the wild are thought to breed every three to five years and nurse their calves for the first one to two years. The gestation period for the pregnancy is seventeen months (“Welcome”). Killer whales are very social animals and are commonly found in pods of as few as 3 to more than 25 animals including at least one large male. Killer whales typically stay in their pods for their entire lives. Various pods of killer whales have been observed mixing with other pods either for social interactions or mating (“Killer”). They communicate through a series of whistle and clicks, which can be modulated by pitch and multiple harmonics. Pulsed calls are the most common form of vocalization that resembles squeaks, screams, and squawks to the human ear (“Killer”). Killer whales are actually pack hunters, like wolves, coordinating their attack and herding their prey into a small area. They are called killer whales due to the fact that

In the 1800s the Northern Right Whales were killed mainly because their bodies have oily fat, which was used as a fuel at the time, they were also killed to make umbrellas, and whips (Endangered wildlife of the world). Other reasons for the Northern Right Whale being endangered is due to habitat pollution, Toxins, Climate and ecosystem change, Ruckus from whale-watching activities and noise from industrial activities. Also the death of the whales now is due to ship collisions and entanglement in fishing gear has limited the population’s recovery

Did you know that killer whales are the largest species of dolphin. Killer whales have a long lifespan. They eat a lot of different species of animal. The killer whale’s size can get up to 23 to 32 feet long, and can usually weigh up to 6 tons. Killer whales also have good memory and are very intelligent.

The female can survive up to the age 50 that’s why but the age 40 she has used up all her eggs for the purpose of breeding. And the Male is known to live up to the age 25 till they die. It has been documented that female whales are able to only produce on average about 4 to 6 offspring’s in their conceptual life. It is also be noted that Females come in to heat several times in one year and can be known to mate with several partners not being committed to only one. Male killer whales have been observed to court with the female killer whales about as 10 times per day and can even be matting with even pregnant females. The time it takes for babies to be forming in the female killer whale can take a very long time it can last up to 15 to even 18 months and the birth can take place any time in the year. There is no fixed time period and or seasons to which the killer whale mates in. the killer whale mates when it has reached maturity and mates often when it can. As to how normally the new offspring is born, first and for most its tail is the first to appear, there have been cases where the head would come out first. The babies are to be fed for a certain period of time that having to be on average 18 months and a strict diet of all nutrients from the mother’s milk to give the baby large amount of fat needed for its body to grow and adapt and change in the sea temperatures. But the mothers don’t just baby them for long they teach them in this time period how to hunt as well as defend, because as its already known killer whales are apex paradors of the seas and they have to hunt pray to live. The length of the new born’s are recorded on to be that of 2.6 meters and weigh coming at 160

The whaling industry came to America in the early 1700s with shore whaling. Settlers whaled near shore, then sold the whale’s oil, ambergris, and spermaceti for considerable profit. The success of these sales prompted wealthy Quakers from New Bedford and Nantucket Island to invest in whaling ports stocked with efficient ships, equipment, and crews. These ports accumulated much money for the Massachusetts towns. Aided by the inventions of the tryworks and toggling harpoon, America fast became a prominent name in the whaling industry. By 1846, America owned almost 82% of the world’s total whaling ships (Barcott, “In the Shadow of Moby-Dick”). Unfortunate the American whaling industry declined 13 years later as the rising petroleum market and

Whaling as a business in America first began in the early seventeenth century with the English settlers. As the settlers carelessly butchered whales who’d accidentally washed ashore, they remembered how prominently the oil was used back home, and began selling and using the oil as a commodity. The “industry” was then furthered, beginning with simple row boats capturing whales which neared the land. Soon, ships stocked with crews specifically for whaling were being paid for and shipped out, mostly from ports in Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. As the industry grew and higher demands came for whale oil, focuses shifted from Nantucket to New Bedford. Oil was now being used broadly, with baleen for umbrella handles, ambergris for perfume, and spermaceti

The use of harpoons to kill whales is not new; however, in 1986 Japan started using explosive harpoons, or as the Japan refer to it “harpoon grenades” (Leake & Ryall, 2006). This harpoon is designed to go through the skin of whale and explode into pieces. The theory behind this harpoon is that it will hit vital organs,

For them, the whale is a kind of important food and whale blubber provided energy. Each spring, they would paddle out in their canoes which named Uniaks. Using harpoons which head are stone and inflated seal skins to force the whale to surface. When the whale tired, they would use harpoons repeatedly stab it. They will almost not wasted any part of whales. They are eating the skin, fins, blubber, flesh, tongue, intestines, kidneys and heart. The blubber was use provide light and heat and the bones were used as building materials and tools. “British and American vessels pursued the bowhead whale in Hudson Bay for just over half a century before bringing the whale stock close to extinction. During this period whaling exerted a powerful, sustained influence upon the Eskimo, who had hitherto enjoyed only sporadic and irregular contact with passing explorers and distant trading posts.” ( Ross, W. G. 1975) Because whalers coming, the life of Eskimo had many changes. May to September are the best time to whaling, after this there are the long (ten-month) period of inactivity. Long time stay in harbors facilitated prolonged contact with the Eskimos. The Eskimo became indispensable to the whalemen, assisting in whaling, hunting and overland travel. At the same time, the whalemen came to be a port of the new Eskimo life. “ A way of life in which firearms, whaleboats and a wide variety of imported goods played an increasingly important role. This economic interdependence constituted the foundation of the Eskimo-whalemen relation.” ( Ross, W. G. 1975) Furthermore, whale not the only one target for the whalemen. When hunting with Arctic, whalers came across many different animals such as polar bears, walruses, musk oxen and birds. Some were brought home for sale to the zoo, and this is the main reason why many animals which live in the Arctic came to Britain. However, some polar bears were killed. “ Polar bears were killed by rifles;

Before moratorium of whaling, there was a high demand of whale oil from blubber. In 1946, International