In a bold bid to break the impasse at the IWC summit in Santiago, Chile, the Sea Shepherds conceded that Whalers - particularly those plentiful species from Japan and Norway - CAN be sustainably hunted and harvested without adverse impact upon the general population. "It is not only humane, but necessary" a spokesperson for Greenpeace explained. "We must continue our cull of whalers for scientific research since there are many unanswered questions about why, in the face of overwhelming opposition from the rest of the planet, depletion of numbers, and compelling evidence that whales are MORE intelligent that humans, that the whalers continue to do the absurd". She added: "It just doesn't make sense, and we must torture, capture, and kill them (for research) to figure out why they are doing this."A member from the crucially important whaling nation of [land-locked] Mongolia went on record as saying: "Whales? What are whales?!? We're here because some wily-looking guy named Hiro told us there was a free pancake breakfast with all the fermented yak-milk we could drink..."
What is the story with Japanese and whaling anyway? The Japanese visitors that we get here in NZ seem otherwise so environmentally concerned it doesn't make sense to me. It it a cultural imperative that they hunt whales under the guise of research and then smuggle the meat into the sushi markets? Is it just a corruption thing? What is up with that?
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know the name of the SNL or Madtv character that Cassandra uses as her logo?
ReplyDeleteShe is the actress who plays "Landlady" in Stephen Chow's Kung-Fu Hustle
ReplyDelete-C-
for "techinvest," there's plenty of (free) commentary answering your question on the BBC website
ReplyDeletefor C, thanks. The avatar reminded me of Kim Wayans playing her character, Benita Butrell, which makes no sense given that they don't look alike. But that's how my memory is some times -- unreliable.
ReplyDeleteWould it be churlish to point out there are more landlocked countries on the pro-side than the contra-side?
ReplyDeleteThe IWF was originally an organization limited to historical whale-hunting countries. That changed when the anti-whalers enticed a number of Caribbean islands to join. It would appear the pendulum is shifting with the whalers now recruiting even more members.
If man was rational enough as a species to not overhunt, then I wouldn't mind scrapping the ban. But all you have to do is look at the relatively recent plight of sharks to see what would happen once hordes of Asians got it into their heads that whale meat is something special and, whoops, soon enough they would be teetering on the brink of extinction. The shark hunting is just ridiculous, all the Asians want is the fin for soups. Nothing else, just a fin that doesn't taste anything. It's a status item, poorly justified by the texture it adds to soups.
And for that they slaughter them in the millions.
Techinvest,
ReplyDeleteOne would suspect that the average visitor to Thailand might be a bit different than the average visitor to NZ.
Perhaps one big reason for the governmental efforts to promote minke whaling is that Japan is a seafood-eating nation. Thus, on principle, non-endangered animals in the ocean are fair game. Or so the bureaucratic mindset seems to see things. Whatever the merits of this argument, they'd be on better ground if they had promoted a more sustainable version of harvesting ocean resources over the years.
With the growing scarcity of whales in the world's oceans, the Japanese must consider the previously
ReplyDeletetaboo subject of Land Whales. Until recently, considerations of national sovereignty had prevented the ships from "going ashore". "We know they're out there, but our hands have been tied by the land owning interests" one Captain remarked.