Whale Wars

[284guy]

Have any of you watched this program? These idiots, the sea shepards, are very stupid, dangerous and insane. I think they are a bunch of lunitics that are going to get someone killed. Grown men and women crying over a dead animal. Honestly I watch always hoping their ship will sink or the Japs will send that harpoon through the sea shepard bridge. Has anyone tried whale meat? Id be very interested in trying it. So what do you all think? Looks to me as if the sea shepards are the ones who are actually illegal.

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[BUZO71]

idiots... but the show is like train wreck. You want to look away but can't. Its funny to see these grown people acting like chickens with their heads cut off when they see a whale die.

 

[Buddhalux]

I to hope that they get rammed and sunk. I bet they'll think twice once a few of their mates become peoplecicles. They should be charged with terrorism or piracy with the way that they assault the whaling ships. One should not throw things from one ship to another that can cause injury without the relization that they could be shot in self defense. How would they like it if the Japenese put together a moritorium on soy beans so that they could not be harvested. Then they get assaulted trying to harvest their own after they get a court order that states that they can harvest some for research. I would of said beef, but we all know the PETA tard mentality that runs rampent with them.

 

[roguebowhunter]

i've refused to watch the program because of the complete idiotic comercials.... i agree they should be charged w/ piracy or something.. the japanese should atleast be able do retaliate..... but we know that PETA freaks are just ECO-TERORISTS....Don

 

[jordanvraptor]

I watch every episode. I dont think whales need to be killed but it is legal. I think their tactics are really bad and I find it somewhat amusing so I watch it.

 

[Sawdust]

I would like to see the Japanese research vessels launch their own small craft and harass the Sea Shepard. That, I would pay money to watch.

 

[Mutoman]

I would like to see the Japanese research vessels launch their own small craft and harass the Sea Shepard. That, I would pay money to watch.

I would like to see the Japanese research vessel hire snipers! :gun14:

 

[Buddhalux]

It's not that the whales need to be killed, HOWEVER whaling has been apart of Japanese culture since they started making boats to fish with. There is a huge market for whale products in Japan. People seem to forget that the Japanese culture has been dependent on the sea to feed it's people for centuries.

 

[rhtwist]

The IWC issued a voluntary ban on whale hunting due to the decline of the world's whale population in 1987. Some country's have refused to join in the ban. The Japanese do support the ban, but by the wording of the treaty they are allowed to decide each year how many whales and of what species can be taken for the sole purpose of research. These carcasses if at all possible according to the ban, should not be dumped into the sea. The Japanese fishing industries make millions of dollars by processing the researched whale carcasses and selling the meat to the Japanese fish markets for commercial profit. To me at least this sounds a little fishy. Just my opinion.
rhtwist

 

[eldbillbo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndaXQeRPO0g&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2Fvideosearch%3Fclient%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26q%3Dsave%2520the%2520whales%2520but%2520kill%2520the%2520seals%26oe%3DUTF%2D8%26um%3D1%26ie%3DUTF%2D8&feature=player_embedded

 

[CEF1959]

It's not that the whales need to be killed, HOWEVER whaling has been apart of Japanese culture since they started making boats to fish with. There is a huge market for whale products in Japan. People seem to forget that the Japanese culture has been dependent on the sea to feed it's people for centuries.

Have you seen the modern technology they use today? That ain't cultural, friend. It's industrial slaughter. If they want to go out in reed boats with lances, we can talk.

The Spaniards had a cultural tradition of slaughtering North American natives in the name of Christianity and the King. African tribesman had a cultural tradition of enslaving one another. Saharan tribes had a cultural tradition of mutilating women and girls with female circumcision. Russians have a cultural tradition involving overconsumption of alcohol. Chinese had a cultural tradition of opium consumption.

Therefore....?

The weird, "Yeah baby, nuke the whales and shoot the defenders!! Woohoo!!" aspect of this thread says a lot about people, much of which has little to do with whales or Japanese culture. And in case you were wondering, that wasn't a compliment.

 

[CEF1959]

Grown men and women crying over a dead animal.

Good point. Can I come shoot your dog? What's your address?

 

[Sawdust]

Well............

From what I have read recently (TIME, ABC, Newsweek) the Japanese are NOT breaking any international laws, they are only taking a sustainable amount of whales of varying species and are not wasting any of the animals.

To me that seems like sound wildlife management.

Yes I know that there are some out there who think that we (people) should not kill anything but that is being a bit naive.

As far as giving up culture and wildlife management I guess I should just turn in my hunting/fishing license, my elk tag, my cougar tag, my bear tag, my turkey tag, my deer tag, my steelhead catch card, and never report any info on my harvest attempts/successes to the ODFW (as required for wildlife management).

Oh, and BTW

So far one Japanese whaler on one of the research vessels has died in a fire as a result of confrontations with the crews of the Sea Shepherd.

 

[elsullo]

I am frequently horrified by some of the comments on this board, but I want to comment anyway. I too believe that the extreme fringe of Peta are all nuts. BUT, Peta is not involved with the Sea Shephard directly, and Sea Shephard does not work for Peta. Regardless of the whale EXTINCTION issue, there is the issue of the degree of sentience of our "food".

I eat meat, love it, and would hunt if I cared for venison. But we all have issues of DEGREE. Most Westerners eat cattle, but we balk at eating horse as they seem to be too intelligent and sociable, and we would not think of eating our cats and dogs even though other cultures do. It's about the level of intelligence we perceive in the creatures. Some Africans will even eat chimpanzee, but we Westerners can't imagine eating such an intelligent being.

Here it is, the great sea mammals, the whales and dolphins, may be the most intelligent beings on the planet. Their brains are HUGE, twice as big or more as the human brain. They have language, they have culture, they even have POLITICS amongst themselves over how families become "pods" (tribes) and relate with other tribes and slightly different species. They can navigate around the globe without instruments, from knowledge passed down from their ancestors. Many mariners and marine researchers will swear that the whales and dolphins communicate mainly by telepathy---I so swear it, I have had that experience and have met another reasonable person who has also.

I guess people think whales are just big fishes because they don't talk to us. The real issue is that they mostly can't be bothered, as our petty concerns are irrelevant to them, plus.............we are not listening. Very few humans have any real knowledge of marine biology. Or intelligence.

IT IS SIMPLY INHUMAN to slaughter and eat highly intelligent, sentient beings, no matter how it is rationalized as tradition or "research." Yet the world goes about its affairs as if sleepwalking. The Sea Shephard Institute is doing what it must to wake the world up. Evidently this takes dynamite.........................elsullo

 

[Sawdust]

Well now that is a twist.

I for one believe that the whales are very intelligent and personally would not choose to eat them, not for moral reasons but rather of taste.

As far as intelligence goes that has no bearing on the food chain. Herbivores eat plants, carnivores eat animals and omnivores eat both (in the most simple terms). We, people, by design/evolution are omnivores.

A cougar or bear does not care that we are the second most intelligent animal on the planet (after doing a study of porpoises I believe that they are more evolved mentally than us). They will eat us given the chance. That's how it goes.

I put the crews of the Sea Shepherd in the same slot as those anti-hunting protesters who harass deer and bear hunters in the forests. A nuisance, just trying to force their opinion on others.

That is all.
Thanks.

 

[Mutoman]

I eat meat, love it, and would hunt if I cared for venison. But we all have issues of DEGREE. Most Westerners eat cattle, but we balk at eating horse as they seem to be too intelligent and sociable, and we would not think of eating our cats and dogs even though other cultures do. It's about the level of intelligence we perceive in the creatures. Some Africans will even eat chimpanzee, but we Westerners can't imagine eating such an intelligent being.

Actually I think most of us eat beef because it is readily available and superior to wild game it the same nature.

I also believe that anyone who picks chooses the salvation of an animal based on it's intelligence is indeed ignorant. If you are going to eat one of them, you mights as well consider the others as food sources.

But you are right, we tend to place some animals on a higher level when we see human traits in them. I probably wouldn't eat my pets if things got real bad, but I definitely would eat someone else's pets.

Here kitty kitty.....

As for the terrorist like maneuvers the whale lovers are taking to attempt to halt the whaling vessels, international waters should be open to using deadly force to avoid these terrorist attempts.

I have to admit that I don't really like seeing the whales get harpooned, yet I, like most of the people I know, just have to watch the show hoping to see the Sheppard terrorists get owned.

 

[Mutoman]

By the way, has anyone caught info on what rifle the whalers are using to finish off their catch?

Seems like they shot one of the whales quite a few times on the last episode I watched.

 

[Sawdust]

Seems like they shot one of the whales quite a few times on the last episode I watched.

What ever it is, it sounds like they need a better caliber or a better marksman.

Sorry, couldn't help it.

 

[jordanvraptor]

It's not that the whales need to be killed, HOWEVER whaling has been apart of Japanese culture since they started making boats to fish with. There is a huge market for whale products in Japan. People seem to forget that the Japanese culture has been dependent on the sea to feed it's people for centuries.

So how long have the Japanese been using diesel powered ships to go down to Antarctica to hunt whales?

This is not the Eskimos going out in seal skin boats with a harpoon which is whale hunting I can support because it is cultural and it is necessary so that the Eskimos can feed themselves and not be on govt welfare programs. I got no problem with the food chain and us being on the top of it. We are the top predator and as such we can choose what we take as prey. I just don't think its necessary to kill whales.

I know the Japanese are a fishing culture but this is industrialized for profit harvesting. I just can't see any justification for killing whales. Its not like they are overpopulated and need to be culled. Still, its legal, and I will always respect that, lest someone else tell me how to live my life.

By the way, I'm half Japanese on my mother's side so I have some personal insight into the culture.

 

[BUZO71]

Many mariners and marine researchers will swear that the whales and dolphins communicate mainly by telepathy---I so swear it, I have had that experience and have met another reasonable person who has also.

WOW what did they tell you????