Whale Wars on Animal Planet

[crazyquik]

Has anyone else watched this? I was flipping thru the channels and found it, apparently it's a reality TV show where environmentalists try to board Japanese whaling ships and delivery mean letters to them.

 

[Eason]

It looks interesting at least, and it is very weak that the jjobbali are whaling illegally commercially, and claiming it's for scientific study.

 

[crazyquik]

They are taking 1000 whales a year, and apparently each is worth a quarter million to a million dollars each.

Not an insignificant sum. Of course that's before expenses for the 6 vessel whaling fleet.

I kind of wish I put this in the CE forum. I wonder what Sarah Palin thinks about whaling?

 

[Eason]

Whaling is interesting. I'm against whaling for reasons of conservation; the whale population has been decimated by over-whaling and the ocean is completely overtaxed by man as it is. For countries with an real economic stake in it where it's a cultural thing, I can make an exception so long as it's sutainable. Numbers aside, I can't really differenciate whaling from eating beef, or any other animal, so if whales (and the ocean as a whole) weren't so endangered, I wouldn't have a problem with it. I was interested in whaling a while ago and looked it up, it turns out they use exploding harpoons that dig several feet into the whale, and then detonate inside the body, vaporizing many square feet of it's internals and leaves it to die a few minutes later. Bipartisan observers have commented that seeing the whale die something they never want to see, or hear, again. In any event, what the Japanese are doing is illegal, so I have no problem with other people trying to stop them. and now, pictures of whales!

 

[akaidiot]

I've watched the first two episodes; it's pretty dramatic.

I've been vegan for 12+ years and used to be pretty involved in the whole animal rights movements and knew some people that went out on the Sea Sheppard before. It's something I had always considered doing, but after watching, the leadership seems a little overly-macho and not something I would want to be doing.

I'm glad Animal Planet went ahead with the show, though; they are getting smeared right and left with the whole ecoterrorist label by animal industry groups (not just the whaling ones).

 

[rach2jlc]

I've eaten whale a few times in Japan... it takes like ****. I don't really see what they'd be missing
from their otherwise wonderful diets in Japan by eliminating it.

I don't read up or study the issue AT ALL, so I don't know the particulars, but it's always seemed a bit counter-intuitive as to why the JAPANESE of all people are the ones doing the whaling. In their own country and such, they are so far ahead of the curve on conservation, recycling, preservation, etc... that you'd think that they'd be the first ones to descry killing an endangered species.

 

[crazyquik]

I went to icrwhale.org. They are "a Japanese scientific body that studies whales" with an office in Washington DC

A lot of .pdfs and their own photos of the Sea Shepard.

http://icrwhale.org/eng-index.htm
http://icrwhale.org/pdf/081106Release.pdf
http://icrwhale.org/eng/history.pdf

According to the Japanese (

) Sea Shepard has sunk whaling vessels in the past, and the members who did it were later arrested by the FBI and put in federal prison. Some members have/had ties with the Animal Liberation Front, who I think burnt down a lot of houses or SUVs in California a few years ago.

Ecoterrorists v. Ninja Whalers

 

[Dragon]

I don`t think it is illegal. The fact is that the Japanese are allocated a certain amount every year (in the name of scientific study) and they don`t catch any more than the allocation.

Japan is also the world leader in scientific study when it comes to fish (not just whales).

From an amateur perspective, I would imagine that something like TUNA is more endangered than whale today. Of course, since tuna isn`t cute everyone doesn`t have any trouble slaughtering them and eating them to extinction all over the world.

Since there has been a ban on whaling for quite some time now, many whale species are actually not in danger anymore. On the other hand, since there is heavy fishing + no whaling (because the whales eat the same fish we try to catch) there are many small fish that are in danger.

The solution should not be a ban on whales just because certain countries/cultures think they are cute. There should be an allocated limit to whaling countries/cultures and there should be no problem (no worry of extinction + cultures continue food tradition = both sides happy).

*Politically, the scientific study allocation is just to please both sides. The people who think whales are cute and should not be killed are satisfied, because whales are not openly exploited for profit. On the other hand, the Japanese can still catch a limited number of whales and continue the tradition.

I think this is a case where most people are blindly influenced by PETA style movements.

 

[Go Surface]

In the preview the captain of the environmentalist groups ship gets shot by one of the whalers. I think it's a must see just for that alone.

 

[Dragon]

Originally Posted by GoSurface

In the preview the captain of the environmentalist groups ship gets shot by one of the whalers. I think it's a must see just for that alone.

I haven`t seen the show, but I would be highly surprised if he was really hit by a bullet shot from a Japanese vessel. Sounds again like PETA-style (in this case Sea Shepherd) propaganda to forward their cause.

 

[crazyquik]

Even when I saw that advertisment I was skeptical, I figure it was debris kicked up from a flash-bang. The ICR has an explanation of what happened on their website, but that would kill the suspense.

 

[Go Surface]

Originally Posted by Dragon

I haven`t seen the show, but I would be highly surprised if he was really hit by a bullet shot from a Japanese vessel. Sounds again like PETA-style (in this case Sea Shepherd) propaganda to forward their cause.

Originally Posted by crazyquik

Even when I saw that advertisment I was skeptical, I figure it was debris kicked up from a flash-bang. The ICR has an explanation of what happened on their website, but that would kill the suspense.

Whale that's disappointing.

 

[Eason]

Originally Posted by Dragon

I don`t think it is illegal. The fact is that the Japanese are allocated a certain amount every year (in the name of scientific study) and they don`t catch any more than the allocation.

Japan is also the world leader in scientific study when it comes to fish (not just whales).

From an amateur perspective, I would imagine that something like TUNA is more endangered than whale today. Of course, since tuna isn`t cute everyone doesn`t have any trouble slaughtering them and eating them to extinction all over the world.

Since there has been a ban on whaling for quite some time now, many whale species are actually not in danger anymore. On the other hand, since there is heavy fishing + no whaling (because the whales eat the same fish we try to catch) there are many small fish that are in danger.

The solution should not be a ban on whales just because certain countries/cultures think they are cute. There should be an allocated limit to whaling countries/cultures and there should be no problem (no worry of extinction + cultures continue food tradition = both sides happy).

*Politically, the scientific study allocation is just to please both sides. The people who think whales are cute and should not be killed are satisfied, because whales are not openly exploited for profit. On the other hand, the Japanese can still catch a limited number of whales and continue the tradition.

I think this is a case where most people are blindly influenced by PETA style movements.

Whales eat the same fish we try and catch? So... we should whale to save the fish? Do you seriously believe that argument from the Japanese? First of all, baleen whales (including fin whales, the ones the ICR kill) don't exactly eat Tuna, they eat krill and plankton. The whales that do eat fish, Sprerm, Orca, false killer whales, members of the dolphin family etc, aren't being whaled. Fin whales are one of the few species that have come back, so they get to go right back on the chopping block. Blue Whales, Wright Whales, Bowhead whales, Sperm whales, all have been decimated by whaling and haven't really come back. If our ocean ecosystems recover enough then many years from now we can whale sustainably, but there's no good reason to keep doing it now except for claiming "tradition".

 

[Dragon]

Originally Posted by Eason

Whales eat the same fish we try and catch? So... we should whale to save the fish? Do you seriously believe that argument from the Japanese?

Actually I don`t believe the argument from either side, but I especially don`t understand the argument from the anti-whaling (PETA-style) side.

I never said we should save the whales so that we can can save the fish. I said that whaling should be regulated so that everyone is happy, and that whaling should not be banned on the argument that they should be protected because they are cute. Of course, if a certain species is in danger, then the allocated limits should be very low.

First of all, baleen whales (including fin whales, the ones the ICR kill) don't exactly eat Tuna, they eat krill and plankton.

I never said whales eat tuna. I said that in my amateur opinion, people should be worried about non-cute fish like tuna which is being fished and eaten to extinction by the whole world today.

There are whales that eat a lot of the smaller fish that we eat, and this is resulting in much lower supply of the some smaller fish that used to be abundant.

The whales that do eat fish, Sprerm, Orca, false killer whales, members of the dolphin family etc, aren't being whaled.

hmmmm...I think one of the most common and popular types of whale eaten in Japan is the Sperm whale (マッコウクジラ）. Again, I don`t know that much on the subject, but I assume that the Japanese have no interest in whaling an endangered species to extinction. They would gladly just fish certain (more abundant) species with limitation if that made everyone happy.

Fin whales are one of the few species that have come back, so they get to go right back on the chopping block. Blue Whales, Wright Whales, Bowhead whales, Sperm whales, all have been decimated by whaling and haven't really come back. If our ocean ecosystems recover enough then many years from now we can whale sustainably, but there's no good reason to keep doing it now except for claiming "tradition".

Again, the issue is not really which species blah blah blah. Basically, the anti-whaling side is against any whaling whatsoever. While I don`t completely agree with the pro-whaling side either, I find that the anti-whaling side (which includes the general western public) is just blindly influenced by the hard-core PETA style movement to protect cute animals.

 

[Eason]

I don't care about cute animals, and we do need to stop overfishing because it's killing the ocean. Just because cod is in trouble doesn't mean we can't be concerned about whales though, it's all part of the same problem.