Last year, due to the constant disruption of the Japanese whaling fleet by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, the massive earthquake, and the resulting tsunami, it looked like the whalers had given up. Unfortunately they plan on returning to the Southern Ocean to hunt whales again this year and Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has vowed to meet them there again and to disrupt their operations as much as possible. I, for one, hope they are successful.
‘Whale war’ kicks off as Japan sends strengthened fleet to Antarctica.
The Guardian
Ken Cole
Ken Cole is a 5th generation Idahoan, an avid fly fisherman, wildlife enthusiast, and photographer. He is the interim Idaho Director for Western Watersheds Project. We do not accept unsolicited “guest” authors or advertising.
Whaling is perhaps the most outdated, vile, and repressive form of hunting on the Earth! My statement is not so much anti-hunting as, why in the world whaling exists at all, with the possible exception of native groups hunting for subsistance. There is no need for whaling.
Japan tries to justify whaling as “tradition,” or even better for “scientific purposes.” Sound familiar? Japan does it because they can, and to thumb their noses at the rest of the world. Of course, whaling is no different than clubbing baby seals in Canada, bear hounding, unlimited wolf killing in Idaho, or recreational trapping in the U.S. Japan’s government supports whaling as “ethical” in the same way the Canadian and U.S. governments call the above activities “conservation,” or “recreation.” How can we judge Japan when we allow barbaric activities in our own backyard? In my opinion, they are all brutal practices that have no place in the modern world, yet they are not only allowed, they are encouraged by their respective governments.
Whaling isn’t much different than most hunting. I wish Captain Watson all the success in the world.
“Too many humans, he says, is by far the greatest problem facing earth. ‘Earth can probably only carry one billion humans. As long as human populations continue growing, the battle [to save the planet] will be lost.'”
Overshoot of carrying capacity is just one of the problems facing us, it is not the cause of the problem though. The source of our issues are living within civilization, a culture based upon increasing destruction of the natural world, a way of life that forces us to live beyond our means. We cannot continue to conflate these individual problems with the source of the problems. If we take a realistic look and see these things as all connected and seek the origins of them, we see this as an ongoing problem that cannot be solved within the context of (industrial) civilization.