This is cross-posted from a forum I'm on, and I have no idea if the HTML
in the post is going to work on Usenet or not. If it doesn't feel free
to *****-slap me:
----------------------------
Firstly, I'll start by saying that I'm a member of a Dolphin and Whale
trust here in the UK and I've adopted an Orca because I'm quite
passionate about marine conservation, particularly but not exclusively
regarding cetaceans.
It's been on my mind for a while now, but I decided to post a topic
about it after seeing the topic about wolves being de-listed as
endangered species, because while things like that tend to get a lot of
attention, problems such as whaling and cruelty to cetacean species
doesn't usually get as much, both inside and outside the furry fandom.
I assume everyone here knows what <BASE href="Whaling"
target="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling">
is; it's usually used to
refer to the hunting of the larger whale species, but more recently by a
number of conservationists to refer to the hunting and killing of all
cetacean species. While most civilised countries have long outlawed
whaling, there are three countries in particular where commercial
whaling is still allowed. Iceland, Norway (including dependencies such
as the Faroe Islands and Greenland), and Japan, although several
countries still perform whale hunts on a much smaller scale.
<BASE href="Greenpeace's page on whaling"
target="http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/whaling">
It's sad and shocking to see such countries defend their whaling
policies in the modern world when <BASE href="many whale species are
endangered"
target="http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/search.php?freetext=whale&
modifier=phrase&criteria=common&taxa_species=1&Submit.x=102&
amp;Submit.y=13&redlistCategory%5B%5D=EN&redlistAssessyear%5B%5D
=all&country%5B%5D=all&aquatic%5B%5D=all&regions%5B%5D=all&
amp;habitats%5B%5D=all&threats%5B%5D=all"> by human activity (ie.
whaling). No amount of culture can defend the hunting of endangered
animals. If your culture causes a species of animal to become endangered
or extinct, that reflects poorly on your culture in my opinion, or at
least on some aspects of the culture.
Knowing people from all corners of the globe, I personally know someone
from one of the aforementioned countries; Iceland. He himself was
originally a little wary of whaling but still weakly sup****ted his
country's whaling policy justifying it with "But the whales eat our
ocean's fish reserves which our economy depends upon". I reminded him
that the whale species his country hunts are mostly Fin whales and Minke
whales; baleen whales, which eat krill and plankton, not fish, and that
if the government were genuinely concerned about fish reserves they
would hunt species such as the Orca and Sperm Whale, which do eat fish,
but as it happens in Iceland, neither of those species are hunted. I
appreciate the aforementioned person's logic when his attitude towards
whaling changed when I brought up these facts.
The loss of the whales would also have a vast impact on the planet's
ecosystem, too, since whales help regulate the amount of plankton in the
oceans, preventing overpopulation of plankton which would potentially
toxify the ocean. Also, the loss of the whale species would potentially
endanger some other species of animal, such as the Orca, since some
populations in some locations of the world rely on whales as prey.
<div align="left"><img
src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Whaling_in_the_Faroe_Islands.jpg"
width="158" height="150" hspace="10" /></div>
So now we're all aware of the Great Whales being hunted to near
extinction, and leaving less than 1% of their original population intact
in the oceans, what about the smaller cetacean species? Firstly, watch
the YouTube video below about Orca hunting and captivity in Japan. This
is relatively common practice in Japan and often, the animals are killed
and discarded or used for meat, not taken into captivity. Orcas are also
killed by fishermen and other ****ps across the world where they are seen
as a pest to fi****ng. Also look at the image below. That's Japanese
whale meat.
<BASE href="Orca pod destroyed in Japan"
target="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ceLQNl2ZMZQ">
<div align="left"><img
src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Whale_meat_on_dish.jpg"
width="158" height="150" hspace="10" /></div>
As for the smaller dolphin species (such as the Bottlenose dolphin and
Common dolphin), a common yet rarely publicised fact is that dolphins
are commonly inadvertently caught by fisheries hunting tuna and other
fish. You might have on occasion, spotted a "Dolphin friendly" label on
the can. These dolphin friendly fish hunters use nets designed to be of
less danger to cetaceans, but are by no means mandatory, nor foolproof,
and many manufacturers and smaller fisheries refuse to use
dolphin-friendly methods because of the increased cost of the netting.
Dolphins which are caught in the nets, being mammals, cannot swim to the
surface to breathe and therefore die within minutes. These deceased
dolphins are then cut from the netting and wash up on shore, dead and
with their skin
[url=http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/files/images/oceans/dead_dolphin_ezperanza.jpg]marked
and bloodied with the fisherman's nets[/url] because of their struggle
to escape.
<img
src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Hvalba_26-08-06_%283%29.jpg"
width="158" height="150" hspace="10" />
Tuna fi****ng isn't the only human threat to dolphins, either. Dolphin
drive hunting also kills thousands of dolphins each year and is mostly
performed by Japan, the Solomon Islands, and the Faroe islands. Dolphins
are driven into a small area, and pushed into a bay or beach where they
are slaughtered or occasionally, captured. Until pretty recently, the
common practice was to slit the dolphin's throat, causing it to thrash
around in agony before dying of asphyxiation, as shown in the photo below.
<div align="left"><img
src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/36/Bottlenoseconvulsion.jpg"
width="158" height="150" hspace="10" /></div>
What I mentioned above is only a fraction of the atrocities committed
across the world against some of the world's most intelligent animals.
Below I'm posting some links to petitions and activist sites on the
topic. Thanks to anyone who read through all of this.
<BASE href="Petition to stop Japan's dolphin drive hunting"
target="http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/427037941">
<BASE href="Petition to stop Iceland's commercial whaling"
target="http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/123614689">
<BASE href="Petition to ban Japan's whaling"
target="http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/990268865">
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