...is ailing and advancements in technology have replaced whale oil with more effective and practical substances, whales are still being hunted and killed. Despite a ban on all commercial whaling certain nations still continue to kill these animals, primarily Japan, Norway and Iceland. The populations of these animals are becoming...
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...Whales are brilliant animals. Surely understood for their knowledge and delicate nature, they are iconic representatives of marine biodiversity. Yet degenerate and neglectful practices still threaten whales today. To guarantee we have solid and healthy seas, we have to ensure the sea's tender titans. Whaling is the process of hunting whales for their produce. Numerous customs relied on upon whales to give material produce as a piece of culture and tradition, all aspects of the whale was misused for; meat, skin, fat and organs were consumed as a critical foundation of protein, vitamins and minerals. Due to this the community of whales are in the brink of extinction. Whaling business started around the eleventh century, when the Basques...
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...representatives of marine biodiversity. Yet degenerate and neglectful practices still threaten whales today. To guarantee we have solid and healthy seas, we have to ensure the sea's tender titans. Whaling is the process of hunting whales for their produce. Numerous customs relied on upon whales to give material produce as a piece of culture and tradition, all aspects of the whale was misused for; meat, skin, fat and organs were consumed as a critical foundation of protein, vitamins and minerals. Due to this the community of whales are in the brink of extinction. Whaling business started around the eleventh century, when...
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...Introduction Since the indefinite commercial whaling moratorium was introduced in 1986, the whaling nations have killed around 15,000 whales between them. At the time of writing, the Japanese whaling fleet has just returned from Antarctic waters where a further 300 or so minke whales have been killed for so called ‘research’, in open defiance of world public opinion and the IWC which has never validated the Japanese programme. The meat from those dead whales will end up on sale in Japanese restaurants and on supermarket shelves. Japan is not only defying the global moratorium on commercial whaling, it is killing whales in a sanctuary agreed by the IWC in 1994. Japan has ‘recruited’ many countries to the IWC to support the resumption of commercial whaling using foreign aid packages. If the ban is lost it will be a disaster for whale conservation efforts. This report presents the many reasons why the ban on commercial whaling must be maintained and properly enforced. We cannot wipe away the tragic history of commercial whaling, but we can, and must, prevent its repetition. The Natural History of Whales Whales belong to the order of mammals known as Cetacea. There are about 80 species of cetaceans, including all the dolphins and porpoises, as well as the ten so-called ‘great’ whale species, which have borne the brunt of commercial whaling. Cetaceans are believed to have evolved from land mammals, which adapted to an aquatic existence about 50 million years ago. They are superbly...
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...announced Friday from Tokyo that its fleet was heading home "on schedule," but that its catch of 267 whales fell far short of the approximately 900 projected, AFP reports. According to an agency official, "factors including weather conditions and sabotage acts by activists" were to blame for the weak results.” In testimony on "The Threat of Eco-Terrorism" given to the a US congressional subcommittee in 2002, Sea Shepherd was the first group mentioned by an FBI official for having attacked commercial fishing operations by cutting drift nets. Sea Shepherd has received support for its tactics against fishing, whaling, and seal hunting from quarters such as media personalities, while their violent tactics are sometimes opposed even by those who denounce whaling, such as Greenpeace and the governments of Australia and New Zealand. Officials of the American, Canadian, and Japanese governments, as well as the Institute of Cetacean Research of Japan, have referred to them as terrorists. Their actions have included scuttling and disabling...
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...Introduction - The fin whale population was wiped out due to commercial whaling in the 1800s and early 1900s. It was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Conservation Act, the predecessor to the Endangered Species Act (ESA), in 1970. Once the ESA was passed in 1973, the fin whale was listed as endangered throughout its range. It is also designated as depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Known for its ability to travel at speeds of almost 40 km/hour, the whale can be referred to as the “greyhound of the sea.” Whales are very important because they are at the top of the food chain and affect the overall health of the marine environment. The fin whale has been greatly affected by worldwide by commercial whaling. Background...
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...Commercial whaling has been a hot topic for many years; many say that all forms of whaling must stop, while others argue that whaling should be allowed if it does not pose a threat to the total whale population. Now while this topic may seem straightforward on the surface, there are deep ethical questions being asked. Some of which are embodied the battle between deontological and utilitarianism views, and the variations between them. Beginning with utilitarianism, which is the view that everyone’s interests should be considered (including animals) and that only the consequences of actions should be taken into consideration when determining whether an action is moral. The primary goal of utilitarianism is to “balance the pleasure and pain as such, the question of to whom a pleasure or pain belongs to is irrelevant” (27). Many, such as Singer, even state that the idea that humans should get special consideration would be considered “speciesism” which would be comparable to racism. Then on the other spectrum lies the deontological view, which is the idea that some things have intrinsic value, or as Tom Regan believes, that animals or at least beings that were “subject to life” (beings...
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...Japan's whaling fleet was headed home from the southern ocean after ending its annual Antarctic hunt with only a third of its expected catch, news reports from Japan said Friday. The hunt ended three days ago with a catch of 266 minke whales and one fin whale, officials from Japan's Fisheries Agency said, according to one report from Australia's ABC news online. The Sea Shephed Society, which sent a fleet of vessels to the southern ocean to block the hunt, proclaimed victory on its website. "Operation Divine Wind is over! The Japanese whalers are going home!" the Sea Shepherd headline read. "There are hundreds of whales swimming free in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary that would now be dead if we had not been down there for the last three months. That makes us very happy indeed," Sea Shepherd's Paul Watson is quoted as saying on the organization's website. News of the Japanese whaling fleet's withdrawal comes four days after the Institute of Cetacean Research, which oversees the Japanese whaling program, reported a confrontation between the Japanese ships and Sea Shepherd's ship Bob Barker. The Bob Barker fired more than 40 flares and aimed a "high-powered" laser beam at the Japanese ships for more than 50 minutes, the institute said in a news release. Watson said that with the high-seas showdown, "the whaling season was effectively over for the season." Japan hunts whales every year despite a worldwide moratorium on whaling, utilizing a loophole in the law that allows...
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...had remained the same for many centuries. The methods we use today weren't invented until the centuries later and they contrasts from whaling of the nineteenth century in various ways. Present day whale hunting has progressed from whaling of Melville's day and the whalers are even hunting for different reasons. For example, in Herman Melville's Day, whalers sailed out on small boats searching for the "elephants of the sea." If the wind was not in their favor, they had to smoothly paddle with oars, careful not to scare their prey. When coming upon a whale, the harpooner would kill the beast with a manual harpoon. The hunters must bring the massive animal onboard the ship, to immediately remove the oil, since they are onboard for years at a time. Similar to nineteenth century whaling, whalers today also have small fishing boats, but with sails or motor to speed up the process. They use harpoon cannons, invented by two Norwegians, that explode once penetrated a foot into the flesh of the whale. Occasionally the mammal will not die immediately, therefore the harpooner will shoot it with a high powered riffle. Then the whalers either tow the whale to shore or bring it alongside the ship. Along with the sail, the invention of the explosive harpoon was a dramatic progress for modern whalers and became the turning point in whaling. This difference in these two systems of whale catching shows the advance in modern technology and methods. The explosive harpooner...
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...Environmental Issue Project – Whaling; to kill or not to kill Larry Baker Rasmussen College Authors note: This assignment is being submitted on August 22, 2014 for Ms. Jaime Farrow’s Section 05 Human Uses of the Environment class. We have all seen, or most of us anyway, the classic movie Moby Dick written by Herman Melville, about the obsessed Captain Ahab who is determined to kill the whale or die trying. Now this is a work of fiction but people have been hunting whales for tens of thousands of years. It only took America about ten years to kill 50 – 60 million buffalo; it makes it hard to believe there are many whales left after thousands of years hunting them. This paper is about the Whaling Debate on whether countries should be allowed to continue to hunt whales or should we leave them protected and my beliefs on the subject. This debate has also focused on issues of sustainability and conservation as well as ownership and national sovereignty. Some of the issues included in these debates is the question of cetacean intelligence this refers to the Cetacea order of mammals, which includes whales, porpoises, and dolphins; and the level of suffering which the animals undergo when caught and killed (The Whale Debate: Whale Wars, 2014). Another hot topic in the debate right now is the right to kill a certain amount of whales for scientific research, Japan kills 1000 minke whales a year and about 100 endangered fin and humpback whales. Whales are mammals the same...
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...Think about how noble sacrifices are defined! Now think about what are the defining components justifying noble sacrifices that qualify heroes. This article is going to explain each component, the justification, and how the heroes help shown these components. The main components are helping others without a direct need to, when the hero gives up something extremely valuable, and peaceful intentions. An element of noble sacrifice is helping others with a direct need to. Mr.Grishchenko flying his helicopter over the exploding, radioactive reactor to dump concrete over the fire wasn’t required by any circumstance. Mr.Grishchenko did it out of pure generosity, and what did he get out of it? A terrible disease and radiation that ended up killing him. The elders that helped with the reactor in japan by all means could’ve sat by and acted helpless towards the whole disaster. Instead they went in and helped clean the site, raised awareness, and even earned money for the disaster with a charity found. They did all this just to help the future generates have a better life. Both of these are selfless acts for someone else to live a better life. Never the less, another key component to justify noble sacrifice is giving something of extremely high value to the hero. Irena Sendler gave up a lot of income to help the Jewish people escape before the Nazi party members captured them. She even gave up her freedom just to help get those Jewish people to a safe place. Kate told Anna that...
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...Name: University: Course: Tutor: Date: International Whaling Commission Introduction Just recently on May 31st 2010, Australia opened a court case against Japan in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) with regards to a dispute relating to Japan’s JARPA II program on ‘Scientific Whaling’. The case was dubbed the ‘JARPA II Case’ and was primarily based on a dispute between Australia and Japan over interpretation of the 1946 International Convention of Whaling (ICRW). JARPA refers to Japan’s Research Program under Special Permit in the Antarctic to carry out research in the marines. The first was introduced in 1987 in the Southern Ocean Whaling Season of 1987-1988. JARPA II was to commence some 18years later from and it started in 2005. During that period of 1987 through 2005, Japan had apparently ignored the Moratorium sanctioned by IWC against Whaling and it is consequently some six thousand eight hundred minke whales were taken under JARPA. That led to a longtime dispute between whaling states and anti-whaling states over limited whaling v no whaling at all. Among the cases is the one between Australia and Japan of 2010. This article will look into the case between Japan and Australia in a bid to answering the following questions; one, how is the International Whaling Commission policy determined and influenced, secondly, what is the role of scientific advice in policy making, thirdly, what are the arguments for both Japan and Australia in the International Court...
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...Effects of Whaling and the Ecology Whaling is one of the oldest human activity for hunting done by man since the beginning of time. Whaling can come with a cost, and result with a set of consequences that can affect the ecology and the world. The consequences of whaling can not only endanger and extinct whales, but destroy and kill the oceans that can eventually kill all life. Whaling is the hunting of whales primarily for meat and oil. It is believed that whaling dates back to a millenia. According to Encyclopedia infoplease.com, “whaling for subsistence dates to prehistoric times. The early people of Korea were hunting whales as far back as 5000 B.C., and those of Norway began whaling at least 4,000 years ago. Various peoples of the NW North American coast and the Arctic have a long tradition of whaling. Whaling, done from canoes or skin boats, often when migrating pods of whales passed nearby, was a very dangerous undertaking. Over time, many, such as the Qwidicca-atx (Makah) people of the Olympic peninsula, developed set spiritual and hunting practices that became the core of their culture.” The origins of commercial whaling started according to online encyclopedia infoplease.com: “The hunting of whales is thought to have been pursued by the Basques from land as early as the 10th cent. and in Newfoundland waters by the 14th cent. It is not until the middle of the 16th cent., however, that the appearance of Basques in those waters is established by record. Whaling on a large...
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...10/24/12 English 1a Thesis: Greenpeace is the largest independent direct- action environmental organization in the world. This organization takes action for ground-breaking changes to protect the environment to create a better future for the world. I. Greenpeace is focused on stopping the damage on mother Earth that our civilization continues to destroy. A. Protecting the Oceans, Whales, and Seafood that are in danger 1.Three quarters of global fish stocks are suffering from overfishing 2.Pollution from land-based sources is turning oceans into a dumping ground 3. Whale slaughter continues to put endangered species at risk B. Protecting forests that are being cut destroyed. 1. Ancient forests are being cut down 2. Eliminating wildlife habitat and harming biodiversity. C. Eliminating Toxic Chemicals that are released 1. Major companies release dangerous chemicals. 2. Dangerous chemicals are released into the environment threatening our own lives. II. Therefore a group of activist came together to stand up, and protect our environment. A. Created by not just one person, but a group of voices, ideas, and thought over the years. B. Decided to not take any money from government or corporations. C. Their only bottom line is a green and peaceful future. III. Greenpeace receives financial backing from two sources. A. Donors who give little and large amounts B. Campaigns, which...
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...scientists have found a novel way to study whales without killing them. The Japanese authorities claim to base their arguments for whaling on science, but in fact invest heavily in emotive messages - for example, that whaling is an integral part of the national culture • There is no national culture of whaling in Japan; there are local cultures, but there are also local cultures that regard whales as gods, where killing them would be unthinkable • Successive governments have placed a high priority on ensuring a plentiful supply of fish through diplomacy, often building relationships with developing countries possessing productive coastal waters They say analysis of the whales' faeces lets them examine their stomach contents minutely. Japan says the need to find out about the animals' diets is one reason why it kills hundreds of whales every year. The new approach was developed by Australian and US researchers, who collected blue whale faeces in nets. The animals discharge them as a thin brown cloud near the ocean surface. Using DNA testing, the researchers established what the whales had eaten and also a distinctive "signature" for each animal, as well as the internal parasites the whales were carrying. The research was revealed by Dr Nick Gales, a principal research scientist at the Australian Environment Department's Antarctic division. He said: "We will be telling the International Whaling Commission that this is a robust, non-lethal method for studying whales. ...
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