Whaling Essays - Whaling, Baleen Whales, Megafauna, Balaenidae

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