Arguments Against Commercial Whaling

As some of you might know, I am interested in biology and wildlife. One morning I was just sitting on my sofa, watching the news. There was a news story called “an Orca Mother Drops her baby, after an unprecedented 17 Days of Mourning”. I find out that the mom uses her head to push her baby for 17 days and 1,000 miles. I still remember my feelings at the moment. I felt so sorry for the mother, and for the species, the beautiful, noble mammal that make their home in the ocean. Do you know that whales have the same IQ as 15-year old children, and as social animals, they get all the emotions that we have? On December 26, 2018, Japan announced its decision to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission and confirmed it will restart commercial whaling in July. As an animal well-being activist, I believe that Japan should not resume commercial whaling. Most whales are now endangered， they should be carefully protected instead of being slayed by humans out of greed.

Firstly, commercial whaling has a negative effect on the ecosystem of oceans. Whales are at the top of the food chain. If we hunt them to endangerment or extinction, it can have dramatic effects. As we all know, the whale is the biggest animal on the earth, their body size can be as big as two of our classrooms combined. Just think about how many fish they have to eat to get though a day. It plays a critical role in balancing the number of microorganisms in the ocean. In this sense, they are born to be ecosystem engineers! And do you know that whales also serve the ecosystem after they die? In death, their bodies, which store a remarkable amount of carbon in the deep sea, provide habitats and food for an amazing assortment of creatures that only live on whale bodies. So, you see, life completes a beautiful cycle through this magnificent, elegant animal. If whales became extinct, possibly hundreds of species that depend on these whales would disappear even before we could ever spot them.

Commercial whaling is a very cruel business stained by blood. Whales are a highly intelligent species that cannot and should not be hunted inhumanely. Nowadays Japanese commercial whaling companies use new techniques to target the whale family, and then they use a kind of fish spear that will explode inside their body and destroy organs. After that, they will drag them to the ship and keep them on the refrigerator ship. Whales may still be alive during marine transport. Sometimes the whales will be hanging in the net and be carried all the way from the north to the south. It is just like someone being dragged behind a car. Normally whales will die during the trip, in a painful way. Imagine if Japan began commercial whaling again, there will be hundreds of whales killed in this massacre. As social animals, whales live in small groups headed by a senior female leader. They can feel a wide range of emotions, in pretty much the same way as we do. So how can we take away the mother from the baby, or the baby from its mother? The slaughter simply tears apart their family. If you do not want this to happen to whales, please join me to pressure the Japanese government to reverse its decision before it’s too late.

Last but not least, now, it is not necessary to continue commercial whaling in Japan. Whaling was one of the world’s first great multinational businesses, but now we are no longer living in the age of Moby Dick. We no longer make candles out of whale fat. Neither do human beings have to feed on whale meat for survival. Oh, I almost forget to mention that consumption of whale meat peaked after World War II in Japan. But that was a time when the country was devastated, and food was scarce, so American occupation authorities urged the Japanese to eat more whale as a cheap source of protein. But now Japan, one of the world’s richest countries, no longer need to eat whale meat. And according to the interviews done by public radio international with a few Japanese men and women born in the 1950s, whale meat does not taste good at all.

Some people may argue that, whaling is a part of Japanese culture. I can see their point. But time has changed. If you visit a whale museum, say the whale museum that sits in Kii Peninsula, you will get an understanding of what the real whaling culture is about. According to a study of Japanese whaling culture “It’s antique vials of whale oil, its primitive display of harpoons, eel spears and circle cutters”, there is a big difference between the old way and the modern way. Now do Japanese men go whaling in wooden boats? Powered by the wind and guided by the stars? If the answer is no, then the modern whaling, enabled by the modern machinery, is not a culture that they should be proud of, but an inhumane slaughter that seeks to get by in the name of culture.

In conclusion, have you ever thought about why Mr. Krab’s ‘daughter is a whale in SpongeBob SquarePants? The truth is Pearl’s family was caught by humans. Only she survived. The idea of stopping commercial whaling is even reflected by cartoons. So, for us and our children we have to stop commercial whaling now.