Hunting for Whales: Outdated Practice Essay

What exactly happened in the whaling industry that had such a detrimental effect on the whale populations?

The ocean is a vast biome that is constantly changing. There is much to learn about the life within, the article “Omura's whales (Balaenoptera omurai) off northwest Madagascar: ecology, Behavior and conservation needs” showed how our knowledge of the ocean and the life within continues to grow. Balaenoptera omurai, or Omura's whale was only found as a new species in the year 2003. Their are no dependable population size estimates or evaluation of conservation facts because there is not enough data collected on these cetaceans. Scientists are able apply what they learn from some of these organism to humans. In the article “Reproductive Conflict and the Evolution of Menopause in Killer Whales” scientists were able to draw comparisons between Humans and other species.

Did you know that in the last 50 years over two million whales have been killed? The United States views whaling very differently than Japan does. It is a complicated and controversial topic. Many people have opinions about whale hunting. However, everyone should know both sides of the whale hunting issues before they act on the issue. To start out I am going to tell you a little about whaling. The first whale hunters were in the prehistoric times. At first they would just kill and eat beached whales. That became such a habit that they started hunting them. Most whale hunters use harpoons, guns, lances, or bombs that blow up inside the whale. They use catcher boats, or kayaks. In 1925, whalers developed

Based on this study, researchers can know what is the rate of fertilization and where mortality rate is greatest, also they can use this population to create a model population to see what is the cause and how they can prevent this. These results are important because it showed the evolution of the population and it helped to see if minimizing the threats is an effective solution and how these threats are affecting the right whales. Also, it can help assess the recovery of depleted populations, evaluate conservation threats and also to use whales as indicators of the health of local ecosystems (Fretwell 2014). Doing this study was complicated because the old population was not clear, and assumptions had to be made, such as the population size at each class. Therefore, the sample size can affect the end result. Also, assumptions had be made in the future population in regards of the population in each age class, but it was based from a journal.

A killer whale in the wild, lives just as long as humans do, between sixty and ninety years. But, throughout collected data from the whales captured

This stipulation proved important in the evolution of the IWC over time because as non-whaling nations began to join in the 1960s and 1970s, they increased the pressure on the IWC to turn its focus from that of market regulation to a preservationist or conservationist standpoint (Andressen in Implementation and effectiveness… 1998). But why would nations who did not participate in the whaling industry want to join the IWC? One reason might be that IWC membership was an easy (and cheap) way to improve their reputation as “green-minded” without having to make any significant changes in policy. Furthermore, the decades between the 1960s and 1980s saw an increase in the number of NGO’s taking on the cause of whale conservation which also drove the IWC to re-evaluate its goals and objectives. As a result, the IWC agreed upon a 10-year moratorium on commercial whaling in1982 and put it into effect in 1986. The moratorium prohibited all commercial whaling, and granted certain quotas to indigenous peoples who needed the whales for subsistence, and to scientific research efforts. After the10 year period, it was decided that a Comprehensive Assessment would be conducted and enough data would be collected in order to reconsider the moratorium.

Hull's whaling industry has been experiencing from recession to revival in its colorful history. It started in 1598, had a decline in the 17th century and revival in the mid 18th century. Until the 19th century Hull's whaling industry really began to prosper. Whaling is playing an important role in Hull maritime history. There were many men employed it or attended trade. In a period of great prosperity,

The Japanese have been whaling since the 12th century, but industrial scale whaling didn’t begin until the end of the 19th century (Wikipedia, 2016). The Japanese are not trying to carry on the 12th century traditions, rather they are trying to continue with industrial whaling, something clearly done solely for profit. I’m not a big TV watcher and we don’t even have cable, but I have seen several episodes of Whale Wars, a television program on the Animal Planet cable network. The show is about a ship called the Sea Shepherd whose purpose is to stop Japanese whaling. The Sea Shepherd’s

New Bedford Whaling Museum (NBWM). (2016). Whales and hunting: “Modern” whaling, 1861-1987 - An overview. Retrieved on March 4, 2016 from http://www.whalingmuseum.org/learn/research-topics/overview-of-north-american-whaling/whales-hunting

Countless whales are killed each year rounding to at least 1,500 a year, decreasing in its population by…(edit). Decreasing this amount of whales could cause critical damage to the climate and the health of the ecosystem. Therefore, commercial whaling should be banned because whales could become extinct and can also stop the process of making the ocean better for other animals. By over whaling, the increase of commercial whaling would also increase in one rapid movement, causing whales to be extinct and will cause the water to be contaminated and worse into the future. Even though various whales were killed centuries ago(period of 100 years), it hasn’t caused numerous damages to its population. Later on, somewhere in the 17th and 20th century, whales are killed more sufficiently from countless numbers of whaling industries. Moreover, it caused many varieties of whales to deteriorate (worsen) from whaling. According to an Anti-whaling group Greenpeace, it has estimated that there’s only about 100 left of West-Pacific Gray Whales. Furthermore, Palumbi and Roman's whale population studies also have also shown that the North Atlantic Humpback to be 20 times less after commercial whaling came into play. "If the historic population(of

According to researchers there have been over 15.000 whales killed in Japan and Norway since the 1900’s. Not to mention the amount of minke whales killed for research by the Japanese whaling fleets. In this assignment I will give my opinion on Japan’s continued killing of whales despite the ban on commercial whaling.

The topic I’m going to be talking about it whaling, the question you may be asking is what is whaling? Whaling is the process that is mainly done by Japanese ships where they hunt and kill whales for their meat, oil and bones. Here is a little background on why the Japanese killed the whales. The Japanese has been killing whales for hundred and hundreds of years, so much so that it is part of their history. Whaling was a very important part of Japan before and during the WWII, when whale meat made up for one-quarter of Japan diets because it was so easy to get and it was very cheap. Now they didn’t really use the whale meat as much, they mainly use the whale oil for everyday products, ingredient for different foods, lubrication for motor parts.

Commercial whaling is a serious world issue that has always been difficult for those who are in support and those who are against it. Each group defends their side with convincing arguments. Morally, whaling is wrong, but do the reasons for whaling outweigh the reasons to cease the primitive hunts? By studying the effects of whaling,realizing how culture has changed over time, and taking note of the money that would be saved, it can clearly be seen that there is no longer a current need for whaling to continue. Efforts have been made to try to stop whaling, but with no help from any authoritative figure,nothing has been done to regulate the whaling. The famous sea shepherd, known for its strikes against whaling, can even be seen on

In my opinion, every species, including humans, is a part of the food chain. Whether or not humans are at the top of the food chain isn’t what is important when it comes to the relationship between us and whales. We have the technology and intelligence to kill whales and use them at important resources, including food, wax (for candles and cosmetics), and pharmaceuticals. We should be taking every advantage we get to further develop our knowledge of whale oil, meat, and cartilage. I believe that we should use every opportunity to better our lives, but that does not include kill whales recreationally. There is no excuse for that, just like there is no excuse for kills of dogs, zebras, or pandas. Unless it is for survival, no one should be killing an animal for “fun.” That saying, there is a point when we will have to stop commercial whaling. The whale population has been an interesting trend to research. Whale population has been very high and very low in the past couple centuries. My opinion is that we should have a set number of whales that we can take out of the ocean each year. If that number starts to cause a decline in the population, it should be set lower. If the population becomes endangered, I believe that whaling should stop immediately. I could imagine having to describe to the next generation what a whale looks like because there aren’t any to show

Whaling is defined as hunting and killing of whales by humans for resources, mainly meat, blubber and baleen (whalebone) obtained from whales. These resources are then sold for commercial purposes and thus, whaling has become economical important for centuries (Joanne 2007; The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia 2007). Scientific whaling is conducted by hunting whales for research purposes and further analysis to study on whale’s behaviour, characteristics and distribution (Joanne 2007). Commercial whaling is a controversial whaling practice that exploits whale products for trade and profit. Recently, Japan, Norway and Iceland are the major contributors of commercial whaling and deeply support any other whaling activities (Joanne 2007). Moratorium on commercial whaling 1986 is a global ban of hunting whales for commercial purposes, implemented by International Whaling Commission (IWC). Under Article VIII, unlimited scientific research is permitted but sufficient data and analysis are required by Science Committee set up by IWC (Papastavrou 2006).