You have to question sanity and motive,

when you are about to cause the extinction of a species. The Japanese and the Faroe culture both quote the tradition of killing whales and tradition as their motive.

Let us look at Japanese tradition, “Hari-kari”. It could be considered Japanese tradition.

Why is it still not widely practiced today ? Well, for one thing Hari Kari was abolished in 1873. It seems that for the most part, killing oneself is really not a solution to anything. It means there is no second chance, when in truth, life gives one many chances to change for the better. Read the rest of this entry »

Get them while they last…

Whale wieners: Whale meat hot dogs are sold by a local merchants' association in the town of Kyonan, Chiba Prefecture. KYODO PHOTO

I just ran across an article in the Japan Times. In a former whaling port in southern Chiba, vendors have started creating whale and dolphin hotdogs to “raise the village’s spirits”.

In the course of the commentary written by Minoru Matsutani, whale meat is actually used from the Japanese research institute. If you remember, endangered whales and dolphins can be killed for ‘research’ through an IWC loophole.

“Japan has so far caught 272 whales in the Northwest Pacific Ocean during this year’s hunt and 507 in the Antarctic Ocean in the 2009-2010 season. These were whales regulated by the IWC, according to the Fisheries Agency. Read the rest of this entry »

You know, I had a revelation about the Icelandic Faroe culture and whaling, while reading comment from a well known Icelandic soccer player Atli Gregersen:

“People from Scandinavia get called Vikings and that’s really what we are.”

His comment actually made sense why Scandinavian fisherman (and the Scandinavian culture) react negatively to criticism drawn for killing whales, etc. Fishing and killing passed on from father to son. “Contagion of Aberration” is the most appropriate description.

If you look at the original Viking ethnic, they were great shipbuilders. Hence their tradition of beautiful wood furniture. But besides ship builders, their history is filled with adventurers and plunderers. They took from the land and sea. Vikings never lived for the future and sustaining what they had by growing crops. Vikings took land, people, and food from those less able to defend themselves. The truth is that that is the way all men have survived. Yet it is those few who have risen above that mentality to recognize we will survive when we realize we are not alone and we share this planet. Read the rest of this entry »

Outgoing International Whaling Commission (IWC) chairman Sir Geoffrey Palmer has warned the Government to be cautious about joining Australia in taking Japan to the International Court of Justice over whaling. Sir Geoffrey said the moratorium was effectively meaningless and his solution would mean only 1500 whales were killed each year instead of the present 3000.

An acceptable solution would be a solution that does the least amount of damage to anyone or any life form.

I don’t see how killing whales in any number saves them. Would one then call such diplomacy “Collateral Damage Politics”?

Considering that neither Japan or Iceland adhere to any diplomacy where whaling is concerned, hunting whales in defiance of IWC, it is no wonder why Sir Jeffrey Palmer has been ineffective. And so he leaves the IWC, still being ineffective and encouraging others to follow suit.

There are no arguments that are in favor of endangered whales by Japan or Iceland, simply because there are no plans to sustain these creatures as a species. Look at the dwindling fish and whale populations surrounding both countries. Neither country plans or has ideas as to how to farm tuna, for example. But advanced technologies can consume 7,000 tuna in one day.

And so we wonder why ocean species are dwindling.

Read the rest of this entry »

I ran across a conversation between Estonian MEP Indrek Tarand, member of the joint EU-Iceland parliamentary committee and Paul Hutchinson about Icelandic whaling:

“The Icelanders say that it (killing of whales) is not an environment issue – in their understanding it is about sustainable management of maritime resources. Their theory is that the whales eat a lot of fish and are therefore a natural competitor to the fishermen.”

This is an interesting point. The whales are responsible for lack of fish. While Iceland takes literally tons of fish out of the water throughout the year and with a far greater technology than the voracity of a whale’s mouth! And in an ocean that covers two-third’s of the earth’s surface!

Read the rest of this entry »

There are letters being generated at this moment to send to the President of the United States to save whales.

There was some uneventful discussion to open the minds of Japanese Whaling fisherman in Taiji. Both won’t do the job. And I don’t think confrontations blockades will either.

Why?

“The pen is mightier than the sword!”

Although the phrase is taken from a play in 1839 called Richelieu by Lytton, it is quite true.

If we are to beat the Japanese on their own terms as well as Denmark, good blogsites and websites need to be created in their language and then heavily optimized which enlighten people about whales. You see, if we talk to them in our language, English, we really don’t have their attention. Additionally, the internet is an open communication line. It really can’t be blocked, or, at least not yet. Read the rest of this entry »

The recent talks between anti-whaling groups and Japan have stalemated.

The only argument that other countries are forcing Japanese fisherman out of a tradition of hunting and killing whales and dolphins is at best, weak. It is like saying to America, keep going with slavery because it is cheap labor. Well history has proved that man is wrong enslaving other men. The movie based on the change of attitude “Amazing Grace”, started with a man who knew what English Sugar Cane Plantations were doing were wrong.

As man ( I include myself) is species centric we do not always care about the other guy. Here in the states we almost extinguished the entire Indian culture that existed prior to Plymouth Rock.

Well, we know whaling is wrong, tradition or no tradition. There are no plans that come out of Japan or Iceland as to of how to sustain these creatures’ lives, only take them. There is no “research” as it is called. Read the rest of this entry »