The Pros And Cons Of The Whaling Ban

“ The story of the whale is so remarkable, that were there not so many witnesses, I would not venture to tell it, lest I be accused of exaggeration.”

"Imagine if the world you lived in, the space you breathed in, and the freedom you played in were suddenly taken away from you." (Free Willy)

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.

Poaching animals is defined as the “illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals mainly in areas in which hunting is forbidden” . The main difference between poaching and hunting is the legal permission, indeed “hunting is regulated by the government, and hunters must obtain permits authorizing them to kill certain animals” .

Killer whales are confined to tanks that are far too small for them. This can trigger unwanted and dangerous behaviors out of the whales (Humane Society). Would you want to live your life in a bathtub or a small pool? In 1987, trainer Jonathan Smith was performing with one of the orcas in a full audience. One of the orcas took a hold of his foot and dragged him to the very bottom of the tank. The whale brought him back to the surface and let go, but another orca then slammed into him and dragged him back under water. Smith eventually escaped with a lacerated liver, ruptured kidney, and cuts all around his torso. He thinks what may have triggered these behaviors is that fact that he was wearing a uniform that looked similar to a seal.

Did you know that roughly three million whales were slaughtered in the twentieth century alone? Or that there are only around four hundred North Atlantic right whales alive today because they never fully recovered from being hunted? These whales are known as “right” whales because they are large and slow, with thick blubber that yields lots of oil plus they remain afloat after they've been killed, this simplifies the whole hunting process for everyone . Furthermore, the hunters got more money for less work. I believe that whaling is a vile and pointless thing to do to such beautiful creatures and that the International Whaling Commission should look further into the use of whales for research.

This is a direct challenge to the sovereignty of those nations. I compare this to deer hunting in my nation. The impact of deer hunting is different in each state in my country similar to how whaling has a large impact on some villages but not the entire nation of Norway or Japan. If a foreign group put intense political and economic pressure to ban all of deer hunting in my country, that would be an infringement on national sovereignty just like the whaling ban in Norway and

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

When the commercial whaling was prohibited in 1986, Australia has formed a major anti-whaling campaign, which is well known as the sea shepherd. Sea shepherd’s job was going out to the sea and use action to defend the whales from getting hunted by the Japanese. Australia’s anti-whaling action tells people around the world of the serious situation about whaling. Our action leads people to start paying attention to the consequences of not stop the whaling. In 2010 Australia has been initiated legal action to proceeding against the Japanese, intention to end the scientific whaling in the southern ocean.

The predator role of the shark is invaluable to marine life. The Institute of Oceanography at The University of California developed a model of a Caribbean Marie ecosystem to research predator prey interaction. The food web created encompassed 250 species including sharks. The researchers found more than 3,000 links between the species. This gave researchers a better understanding of sharks and their significants as well as the consequences of human activity towards sharks. The over fishing of sharks is primarily attributed to shark finning; an inhumane activity that involves slicing off the shark’s fins while still alive and throwing the rest of its body back into the ocean where it can take days to die. Although shark fin is used in many asian traditions, supporting a global ban that strictly regulates shark finning will help save these magnificent creatures, local economies, and the ecosystem.

Whether sharks should be culled or not has become one of the most controversial issues in modern society. However it has become significantly more apparent that sharks should not be killed and this expository will be focusing on why sharks should not be culled. If the top predator of a food chain is removed, then that may cause the end of many more species. By removing the top predator of the food chain, this interrupts and disrupts the entire food chain and the animals on it.

In discussions of hunting, one controversial issue has been the ethicality of hunting, and the effect it has on the environment. On one hand, many people argue that hunting is a terrible, unethical, act of dominance that has a negative effect on the environment. On the other hand, hunters and a growing number of conservationists contend. that hunting is a positive part of life and environmental conservation. My own view is that ethical hunting has a positive effect on people and the environment.

In 1946 the newly formed International Whaling Commission enacted a global moratorium on commercial whaling (Robbins). The IWC was formed in hopes of protecting whales and making sure that whales were spared. Without enforcement of the rules and restrictions for any nations, the problem has not gone away. Without whales the ecosystem begins to falter, the whale being one of the vital producers, and consumers of the ocean. There are countries that refused to agree to the terms of the moratorium, regardless of the damage such actions would cause. The moratorium permits whaling for scientific research, and that is the mask current whaling countries hide behind (Zelko). They argue that they are not violating any restrictions, because Article 8 of the 1946 moratorium states that whaling for scientific research is not part of the agreement (McCurry). During the 1970’s people began to care about the whales that were being killed faster than they could reproduce (Robbins). In 1986 whaling was officially banned, some nations ignored the ban, and still do. In 1993, meat DNA tested at a fish market in Japan showed that whale meat was clearly being sold, but there were no consequences. The ban made by the IWC is not

Whaling has become a global environmental issue as vast numbers of whales are killed commercially and scientifically every year. Intense debate on the necessity of whaling has been stirred but failed to be resolved due to the lacking of pragmatic measures employed by the responsible parties. Whaling nations continue to defend their whaling right for cultural and research purposes. Yet, ethical and humanity issues are among the controversial disputes raised by concerned public. In February 2010, International Whaling Commission (IWC) proposed a plan of lifting whaling ban by limiting scientific whaling activities with the intention of reducing overall number of whales killed besides solving the current impasse between pro

Animal rights is the philosophy or idea that all animals should be able to live a life free from human exploitation pain and suffering. According to Gale ” The idea of animal rights has roots in ancient times. In Greek philosophy, the animists believed that both animals and people had souls. The vitalists believed that humans were animals but at the top of the chain and could use animals for their benefit.” ( Animals Rights, par.2). In the early twentieth century in the United States, there was no law that regards to animal experimentation. In 1937 there was a pharmaceutical company that developed medicine called Elixir Sulfanilamide. When the medicine was released the company was unaware that the substance was harmful because the drug