FREE ESSAY ON WHALING

WHALING

Unless whaling is restricted, all whaling stocks will ultimately be depleted.
The whale populations around the world have plummeted since the late 19th and early 20th
century. Some of these great animals have become extinct while others are in great danger
of becoming extinct. The main culprit in their demise is man. Mankind, knowingly and
unknowingly, have single handedly put this beautiful creatures at death's door. This
being the case, humans are also the only hope these animals have in being saved; in doing
so, we will in turn save the oceans as well as ourselves. In this articles it will be
argued that unless whaling is restricted, all whaling stocks will ultimately be
depleted.
Whales were hunted because they were easy prey and they were very slow moving. They also
had very high commercial value because from each creature the whalers obtained large
quantities of products. These included whale oil, used for fuel, cooking, lanterns, soap
and candles; baleen - a fingernail-like substance, which was used before plastic for
corsets, umbrellas, buggy whips, fishing rods and hair brushes, and whale bones which
were ground down for fertiliser and fine bone-china. In fact, some of the first goods to
be exported from South Australia were whale products, and the whaling industry played an
important part in the development of this State by providing many employment
opportunities.
There are many reasons why these mammals should be saved. Humans have caused this problem
and through humans it can be solved. The whaling industry needs to have one of two things
done in order to protect these animals. One is to tighten the restrictions on the number
of whales that can be taken from the oceans. The types of whales of which can be hunted
have already been laid out and these restraints need to have stricter supervisions. If
the whaling countries and tribes can not follow these restrictions, then all the whaling
industries need to be completely shut down. 
The depletion of the whaling stocks began with the commercial whaling industry, which
began in the 12th century. The first whale species that were hunted were the right and
bowhead whales. This family of whales was ideal for the early hunters. Their bodies
contained large amounts of blubber and baleen, they were slower swimmers and resided near
the coastline, also when dead their bodies would float. The whale oils were used for many
different things. Lighting, heating and lubrication are just a few of its uses. The
baleen also had many uses, such as fishing rods, buggy whips, and brushes to name a few.
After carelessly over hunting this particular species of whales, the population had a
dramatic decline. Because of this the whaling industries sought our more numerous species
to harvest. In the late 19th and early 20th century whaling was a large industry that
employed large numbers of people. Throughout this time there were generations of whaling
families. This was a way of life and these people knew of no other way to support their
families. Whaling was in full bloom by the 20th century. Due to technological advances,
such as faster boats and improved harpoons, the whalers were able to go further out to
sea and hunt the larger and faster whales like the blue and humpback whales. Like the
slower whales these whales were soon hunted to the brink of extinction. Because of the
carelessness of the whaling industries in the past, our whales are in the predicament
that haunts them today. 
The strongest argument against whaling is simply the pain the whale has to through.
Anti-whalers say that the whale feels pain the same way humans do, and when a harpoon
hits a whale, it might take up to 10 minutes before it is dead. If the whale is dead 10
seconds after impact with the harpoon, the whale is killed instantly, they claim, but
this is rare. "Every form of life is unique, warranting respect regardless of its worth
to man and, to accord other organisms such recognition, man must be guided by a moral
code of action." (Jones, 1989: 67)
In 1996, whaling-inspectors reported that the average time the whale had to suffer rated
from 4-6 minutes. But that is just the killing process. Before you can shoot the whale,
you have to find the whale, and because the whale is only up to breath a couple of
seconds the shooter has 2-3 seconds to fire. Anti-whalers say that the hunting, which may
take up to several hours, must scare the whale, and they want us to imagine the fright
the whale must feel when being hunted. Whaling destroys social and family bonds within a
whale pod.
A growing number of people around the world are aware of the remarkable qualities of
whales. (Mitchell et al. 1986). Today the whaling problem is not as large as it once was
but still exists. To date, there are two countries that continue to commercial hunt.
These two countries are Norway and Japan. Many of these hunts are done illegally and
nothing is being done about it. There are regulations which these countries are supposed
to follow. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) needs to crack down on these two countries.
Stiffer penalties are one way to stop the illegal slaughtering. By stiffer penalties we
need to raise tariffs on items imported from the different countries around the world.
Another step is to involve the United Nations. The U.N is the collection of the
powerhouses of the world. If the U. N. leads by example in regulating the whaling
industries then the smaller countries will follow. If this still does not deter the
actions of the whaling countries then serious action needs to be taken. A mandatory shut
down of whale processing plants. This will cause the unemployment rates to go up but the
whaling will start to lower. If they agree to the existing regulations then the whale
processing plant can then be reopened
Another reason to preserve these animals is that they control the ecological balance of
the marine world. Baleen whales are filter feeders. This is where an organism cleans an
area when they eat. Baleen whales can filter out large amounts of krill, phytoplankton,
fish, and many other animals in a single feeding. This helps keep these animals from
becoming over populated. If an organism were to become overpopulated, they would become
their own worst enemy. An overpopulated area can run out of food extremely fast. 
Even if the International whaling committee (IWC) could guarantee that whaling was only
carried out on a truly sustainable basis, Worldwide fund for nature (WWF) would remain
opposed to the resumption of whaling (WWF 1992: 1). A growing number of people in many
countries are coming to believe that the killing of whales for commerce is unethical and
that therefore the present indefinite moratorium on that activity should be made
permanent. Their reasons for holding this belief are varied but are mostly based on two
general perceptions: first that whaling is intrinsically inhumane or cruel; and second
that whales are 'special' animals, having evolved, over tens of millions of years in the
ocean, modes of life, forms of society and high intelligence which are vastly different
from those of, for example, the apes (including us) and elephants on land. Their great
size, their beauty at rest and in motion, their play and prolonged care of their young,
their apparently benign attitude towards humans who contact them, and their extraordinary
means of communication among themselves, of navigating vast distances, and of sensing
their environment acoustically and perhaps magnetically, are all also cited as evidence
of 'specialness'. Butterworth argues that whales cannot be hunted humanely, that whales
are uniquely special creatures, and that they have intrinsic value. (1992:532) 
Whales act as a marker of the health of the ocean. If we continue to kill off our only
link to the health of our oceans then how will be able to monitor our oceans' health.
Whales supply the link needed to preserve our oceans and we need to take full advantage
of that link. Saving the whales, not destroying them can do this. By keeping the whale
populations high, this indicates the health of our oceans is high. In order to do this we
need to crack down on the whaling industries. Unless whaling is restricted, all whaling
stocks will ultimately be depleted.
Estimates of whale populations and their status.
Population Estimates 
Species Original level Latest Level Year Protected
Blue 228 000 11 700 1967
Bowhead 30 000 7 800 1935
Bryde's 90 000 43 000 1986
Fin 548 000 110 000 1986
Gray +20 000 18 000 1935
Humpback 115 000 10 000 1966
Minke +490 000 880 000 1986
Right +100 000 3 200 1935
Sei 256 000 54 000 1986
Sperm 2 400 000 1 950 000 1985
Bibliography
Bibliography
1) Bender D. (1996) Animal Rights Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc.
2) Endangered Species Web Page. Endangered Species.
http://www.hcrhs.hunterdon.k12.nj.us/social_studies/evn1/geninfo.htm
3) The Antarctica Project Web Page. Fisheries. http://www.asoc.org
4) Wilson, O. (1989) Threats to Biodiversity. Indiana: USA
5) World Wildlife Fund Web Page. Endangered Species. http://www.wwf.orgnless 
6) Funk, Edward. (1973). "Whaling". Funk and Wagnells Encyclopaedia. Vol. 25, pp.
9172-9175.
7) Save the whales (1997). Available: http://www.bigvolcanoe.com.au/human/whaling.htm
8) History of commercial whaling (1998). Available:
http://www.animalliberation.org.au/whalehist.html