Lew Tolstoi: So long there are slaughter houses, so long there are battle fields.
Me:
So you do with the animals, you will do it with yourselves.
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"Unicorn of the Sea"
Photograph by Staffan Widstrand, Corbis
Successful hunters defin a narwhal in Qaanaaq, Greenland. In addition to its meat, indigenous peoples across the Arctic hunt the narwhal for its skin, which is an important source of vitamin C, and for its long tusk, which once earned the animal the moniker "unicorn of the sea."
During Europe's Middle Ages narwhal tusks were worth ten times their weight in gold—and today they can still fetch hunters more than $1,000 apiece.
(See National Geographic magazine's Hunting Narwhals.)
Narwhal numbers across the Arctic aren't well known but the animals aren't believed to be at risk of extinction. Nonetheless the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) warns that future extinction could be possible if the trade in valuable narwhal ivory isn't closely monitored and controlled. Already, some regional populations are in serious trouble, including those along Greenland's west coast, where narwhals are disappearing under catch limits that many marine scientists insist are far too high.
—Brian Handwerk
Published July 23, 2012
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Small Whales Lack Protection
Photograph by Francois Xavier Pelletier, Sygma/Corbis
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) does not regulate hunts of pilot whales like these animals taken in the North Atlantic's Faroe Islands. And despite the IWC's commercial whaling moratorium on larger species, several nations still hunt them in significant numbers, including Japan, Norway, and Iceland.
World Wildlife Fund policy analyst Leigh Henry attended the IWC's 64th annual meeting this June and July and reports that another nation looks likely to join that group soon.
"South Korea stated their intent to propose conducting a scientific whaling program at the 2013 meeting, and that is a huge deal," she said. "It's essentially another country planning to unilaterally conduct whaling with no oversight from the IWC."
In the 1970s and 1980s, before the commercial moratorium, South Korea harvested some 1,000 whales a year, Henry added. "They've respected the moratorium and haven't taken any whales since," she added.
"But they have understandably become frustrated watching Norway, Iceland, and Japan conduct their whaling. South Korea has been a good player and they've followed all the rules but after they put this proposal forward they can largely do what they'd like because the IWC doesn't have to OK scientific whaling."
Published July 23, 2012
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Killing Dolphins
Photograph by David Doubilet, National Geographic
Fishermen at Futo, Japan's 1994 dolphin hunt used boats and nets to herd dolphin to inshore coves for the slaughter. Futo ended the annual practice for a number of years in the mid 2000s but has since resumed this type of traditional hunt, which also continues in other Japanese communities.
Taiji's similar dolphin hunt drew international attention and much outrage when it was depicted in the 2009 Academy Award-winning documentary The Cove. While activists campaign to end such hunts, Japanese government quotas allow fishermen to continue so that animals can be captured for the aquarium trade—and slaughtered for their meat.
"There are some countries that eat cows, and there are other countries that eat whales or dolphins," Yutaka Aoki, fisheries division director at Japan's Foreign Ministry, told the Associated Press after the film won its Academy Award in 2010. "A film about slaughtering cows or pigs might also be unwelcome to workers in that industry."
Published July 23, 2012
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Whales in the Crosshairs
Photograph by Staffan Widstrand, Corbis
Sergey Puchineot, an indigenous hunter of the Chukot region in Russia's Far East, opens fire on a gray whale with a Russian Army-issue semiautomatic weapon. The indigenous peoples of Chukot and Washington State are allowed to take Eastern North Pacific gray whales under the IWC's aboriginal subsistence catch limits—a total of 620 animals between 2008 and 2012.
Under current IWC regulations, aboriginal subsistence whaling is also permitted for Denmark (Greenland's fin, humpback, and minke whales), the Russian Federation (Siberia's gray and bowhead whales), St. Vincent and The Grenadines (Bequia, humpback whales), and the United States (Alaska's bowhead and gray whales).
Traditionally, whales are an important subsistence resource for many aboriginal peoples. In today's world, some environmentalists believe these quotas are sometimes abused.
Published July 23, 2012
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Death in the Southern Ocean
Photograph by Kate Davison, Eyevine/Redux
Japanese whalers aboard the Kyo Maru Number One landed these whales in the Southern Ocean during the 2005-06 season—and did so despite the determined efforts of activists who used their own vessels to try to thwart the hunt.
The Japanese annually kill many whales in waters the IWC designates as the Southern Ocean Sanctuary—some 19 million square miles (50 million square kilometers) of Antarctic waters where most of the world's whales feed. The whalers do this work in the name of science.
"The IWC went into force in the 1940s and at that time there were not a lot of nonlethal scientific methods available so it allowed any country to unilaterally conduct scientific whaling," said World Wildlife Fund's Henry. "Since 1986, when the commercial whaling moratorium went into place, Japan has conducted this scientific whaling and the exemption does allow you to sell the by-product on the market." So Japan's whaling is technically legal, Henry added, if not supported by most IWC members.
Activists like Paul Watson's Sea Shepherd Society have attempted to disrupt the hunt by getting in the way of harpoons. They claim that Japan's fleet is not pursuing legitimate science, and is therefore not following the letter of the law.
Published July 23, 2012
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Draining Blood
Photograph by Kate Davison, Eyevine/Redux
Whale blood runs back into the Southern Ocean from the decks of a Japanese whaling vessel. While Japan's whaling is ostensibly scientific in nature, Norway and Iceland simply hunt commercially in spite of the IWC moratorium, said Henry. "Iceland acts with complete impunity," said Henry. "They essentially conduct their whaling in an unsustainable manner with no oversight from the IWC."
Japan, Iceland, and Norway have together killed more than 30,000 whales since the international moratorium on commercial whaling was enacted in 1986, according to IWC statistics.
Published July 23, 2012
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Butchering Their Catch
Photograph by Koichi Kamoshida, Getty Images
Japanese whalers butcher their catch in Chiba, Japan, on July 29, 2005.
Japan claims its "scientific whaling" obeys international law, but it does not honor its intent, according to governments and organizations that have filed protests, including the United States, Australia, New Zealand, the European Union, and the World Wildlife Fund. "There's no need in the 21st century for lethal research," Henry said. "They can get the same information from nonlethal research technologies."
In Japan many consider whales a fishery species that might be managed sustainably and view anti-whaling sentiment as culturally biased. The issue may also be partly generational, as polls have shown more support for whaling among older Japanese, particularly men, than from women and young people.
Published July 23, 2012
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Whale Bacon
Photograph by Flip Nicklin, Minden Pictures/Corbis
Packaged whale meat products await buyers in a Japanese store. While the nation's scientific whaling and subsequent sale of whale meat may be legal, Henry said, it's not particularly profitable.
"It's a bit difficult to understand their motivation," she said. "They spend a lot of money, it's a government subsidized operation, and the bulk of the whale meat stays in deep freeze because there is not much of a market." (World Wildlife Fund published a study of these findings entitled Sink or Swim: The Economics of Whaling Today.)
Studies have also shown that whale meat is often high in toxic mercury.
"So it's difficult to explain. I think the best theory I've heard is that marine resources are so important to the nation of Japan that they want to maintain this foothold and don't want to be seen as giving up their right to any of those resources."
Published July 23, 2012
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Traditional Dolphin Hunt
Photograph by George S. Blonsky
A young boy from Kontu, Papua New Guinea, sits with a pair of speared dolphins while watching the village men continue their traditional hunt in the waters off New Ireland's reef. Marine life has long been an essential source of nourishment here and hunts like this are rooted in ancient tradition.
Islanders still practice the skills of past generations, rooted in spirituality and understanding of dolphin behavior, which allow them to hunt and kill these creatures using hand-paddled canoes, bamboo poles, and banging rocks that disrupt dolphin communication.
Published July 23, 2012
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Epic Battles
Photograph by Fadil Aziz, Alcibbum Photography/Corbis
Whalers from the Indonesian island of Lamalera do battle with a sperm whale as they have for many generations—on the most intimate terms. Harpooners leap from their boats wielding a bladed bamboo pole called a kafe, which they use to stab at whales while risking their own lives.
The Lamalerans' tiny wooden boats are crafted by hand and instilled with mystical qualities, as are many aspects of this ancient ritual between predators and prey. Once a whale is harpooned, hunters tie it with ropes and are dragged in their boats by the leviathan, stabbing at it when possible, in epic battles that can last all day or longer.
The whalers kill in the pursuit of meat that can sustain their small village. Lamalera culture mandates that every part of the whale is used or traded with inland villages in what remains primarily a barter society.
Published July 23, 2012
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Deadly Bycatch
Photograph by Pete Oxford, Minden Pictures/Getty Images
This dolphin was a victim of bycatch near the small fishing village of Lavanono on Madagascar's southern coast. Incidental capture by fisheries is one of the greatest threats to dolphins and porpoises.
Gill nets are a major problem in many areas, including Madagascar. Such nets are anchored to the sea floor and buoyant at the top—creating a vertical wall of mesh netting that cetaceans have difficulty detecting with their echolocation navigation systems. Dolphins often die when entangled in such fishing gear.
Published July 23, 2012
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Bones of Past Hunts
Photograph by Paul Nicklen, National Geographic
Heaps of beluga whale bones on a Svalbard beach bear witness to a whaling heyday long past. The small, social white whales commonly swim in Arctic and subarctic waters where they are still targeted by indigenous people and some larger fishing operations—but in Svalbard they are protected.
Extensive beluga hunting began here in the 18th century and continued unabated until Norway protected belugas here in 1961. In the past four decades the Svalbard population has been bouncing back.
Though many species are slow to reproduce, whale populations around the world have shown an ability to rebound when humans give them protected spaces in which to breed and live.
Published July 23, 2012
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80 comments
The great Russian poet Lew Tolstoi ( he was vegetarian) has said: „ So long there are slaughter houses, so long there will be battle fields."
My opinion:
The kind the people do with animals, the will do with themselves.
And--------- we are constructed as herbivores
NOW WHEN HUMANS HAVE BECOME SO ADVANCED IN ALL SPHERES OF HUMAN ACTIVITY,BE IT SCIENCE,POLITICS,TECHNOLOGY ENTERTAINMENT, FARMING, ANIMALHUSBANDRY ITS INHUMANELY SADISTIC AND MURDEROUS THAT PEOPLE STILL KILL WHALES AND OTHER WILDLIFE IN THE GUISE OF HUNTING FOR FOOD.SOCIETY SHOULD REHABILITATE THESE PEOPLE SO THAT WHATEVER WILDLIFE THAT IS NOW LEFT ON OUR PLANET DOESNT BECOME EXTINCT
why do we not see more documentaries about the brutality capture and slaughter of these cetaceans on your TV channels, with all that is happening in Taiji at this moment in time and the continued torture of them isn't it about time you did more to get the word out there!!!!
We save our planet together with this Whales and Dolphins....we united to stop this kinds of Whale and Dolphin hunger eater's Peoples!!!
Disgusting..indigenous or not. I am of the age now that I won't be alive when most creatures will be gone from the planet.. like me, forever
"What to Do About Whales? " From the booming whale watch industry to whale meat being sold on the open market, “What to Do About Whales?” skillfully enters the international debate over the future of the world’s whales. Visiting communities in New Zealand, the United States, Japan and Iceland, the film provides a balance between the stories of those individuals and governments who support whaling, and those who believe that in today’s world, whales are worth more alive than dead. Film-makers Michael McIntyre and Kate Clere, from Second Nature Films, made this documentary to provide a rare insight into what motivates people around the globe to be so passionate about whales - whether they want to hunt them or observe them. Their hope is to give viewers an opportunity to observe both sides of the story.
http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/play/7084/What-to-Do-About-Whales-
The level of whales and dolphins taken out of the oceans every year is unsustainable... Do you think in 50 years you will still see them every where you go like you do now??? The answer is NO!!! Humans take far to many of these animals out of the Oceans every year and in time we will have none left...
one can do anything for their stomach but it doesn't mean to kill animals.there should be other middle ways to stop these things.
i haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate these people who called themselfs humans, I pray that their final end in life is torturing, I HATE THESE PEOPLE, they are not human, they are the trash of humankind
I know law making is not an easy job.But when a photographer is able to capture these photographs,why can't the same be produced as an evidence of these insane,inhumane killing of these innocent animals to the LAW MAKERS?A heavy fine along with non-bailable warrants must be issued against these cruel minds.
This is not accurate. Greenlanders hunt the whale for food but use the skin also for clothing and more, there is a big difference between big Japanese whalers and a small local Greenlandic boat hunting 1 whale. and who are we to judge hundreds of years tradition I have worked in Greenland and they dont have the luxury of unlimited supermarkets or fast food around every corner. It is still today hard country to transport goods to. And I ask, what is the difference, slaughtering thousands of cows-pigs or other animals raised in cages all their life's. At least the animals Greenlanders kill have lived a free life.
in the last 27 years how many and of what type , papers have the Japanese "researchers" published to the betterment of science pray tell?
The aboriginal indigenous peoples of the arctic used semi-automatic weapons in traditional hunting? Maybe I should start grocery shopping with a spear.
If the governments were serious about wanting to stop whaling, they'd outlaw the whaler boats and topedo them out of the water. Not many people would want to go whaling if they knew their boat would be shot out from under them.
If these people have no other means to obtain food then I can understand why they do this, but I still don't agree with killing whales and dolphins. Surely they can eat fish, crabs etc.
If indigenous people want to keep hunting the way their ancestors did then they should only use the same tools their ancestors did. No guns, a product of industrialized civilizations, should be used .
Denmark does not kill whales, only the Faeroe Islands and Greenland does. Not the same thing.
Those who kill whales and dolphins are not human because that shouldn't be done by human. Please stop killing animals which is supposed to be protected by human. Please don't do... I hope National Geographic to help stopping those who is killing whales and dolphins.
Those who kill whales and dolphins are not human because that shouldn't be done by human. Please stop killing animals which is supposed to be protected by human. Please don't do... I hope National Geographic to help stopping those who is killing whales and dolphins.
Those who kill whales and dolphins are not human because that shouldn't be done by human. Please stop killing animals which is supposed to be protected by human. Please don't do... I hope National Geographic to help stopping those who is killing whales and dolphins.
I personally think we should threaten to pull all our troops out of S. Korea and Japan unless they agree to stop killing whales and Dolphins. I can't believe we protect these people.
Shame on National Geographic for posting these graphic pictures. Looks almost like they support this.
I HATE THIS PEOPLE THAT KILL THESE WONDERFUL CREATURES ,WHATEEVER COUNTRY IT IS IF GIVES THEM A BAD NAME.
It always balances on that point of time in the scale of events when our needs transform into our greed/s! So long as our activities are limited to fulfilling our needs we sustain and thenceforth we destroy!
in the 1960s I lived in an eskimo village on the Chuchi sea. The natives were permitted to hunt whale as did thier ancestors for generations. this was done from boats covered in ogrouk hides and a harpoon. i wonder if they are still allowed to do this? I went out with them several times that were not sucessful.I wonder if anyone arround Point Hope, or Kivelina still does this?
@ComicalNews Emailcollage Most of these are killed by people who use them to survive!Would You have their kids go hungry???
@bernadette brookes These people hunt them to help them survive!Would You have their kids go hungry???
@VAMSEE RAJU Vamsee it's because it's not against the law. The native people are quite within their rights to hunt and kill these animals and do what they like. That's the problem that animal rights activists face every day. We need to change the laws so this practice stops.
@Ingólfur Egede You're right, there is a huge difference between Japanese whaling and Greenland's practice. But they both preach tradition as their right to do so. The difference then is, Greenland still whales in a traditional way; tiny boat, tiny crew, one whale; whereas Japan goes out in a fleet of devastating monster ships with explosive harpoons, and kills upwards of 600 whales a year if allowed. Now, in regards to cows and chickens... really? Does that really need explaining? Well, so be it. We breed these animals, in farms, raise them, in farms, slaughter them, in farms. They're cows and chickens, not free roaming, nearly extinct marine mega-fauna being plucked out of an already pillaged ocean. Now, don't get me wrong, I have moral issues with factory farms, and the eating of any mammals, actually, but to compare whaling to animal agriculture, is ridiculous.
@Todd Newton you find the same thing in Klamath River California, the "indigenous" people (many more blonde than Barbie) claim they hold up "tradition" while nylon gill-netting the river salmon to extinction using skiffs and outboard motors, any indian land is devoid of animals because they kill everything that has the misfortune of wandering onto their land (then sell it.) It is disgusting.
@Keith Dart ...a shot to the head with a high powered rifle is probably a lot more humane than a spear in the back and bleeding to death. A few Inuit hunting a small number of whales is sustainable, as it has been for thousands of years. Large Japanese and Spanish ships will deplete our oceans very quickly. It's not anywhere near the same thing.
@Nanna Soerensen Greenland is ruled by Denmark. It is under Denmark's jurisdiction, but not the same thing???? Like saying Quebec is part of Canada but speak french, not the same thing, c'mon!!!!
@Kevin Kevin I'm afraid you have a different understanding. Taking pics and posting those are just simply spreading the news about what is happening in a specific area, thus it doesn't necessarily supports the above mentioned actions.
@TRINITY DWAIN Holmes @bernadette brookes give me break "Trinity". This isn't the primitive ages. laws protect these endangered animals. Since humans aren't endangered the answer is f****** yes. I would let their kids go hungry. We are at the top of the food chain because we can adapt and we are smart. These idiots sure as hell can find a way around this.
@AJ Gregory @Ingólfur Egede Regarding the comparison with cows and chicken - Would it be any better if e.g. dolphins were breed, raised and slaughtered in captivity just like farm animals? I dont think evaluation works that way; they still are living creatures, with intelligence (some more than others) and feelings.
The case of 'tradition' is not justifying it either. In the mid centuries we used to throw rocks at those who committed crimes, duel each other with guns to settle our differences, etc. Today's knowledge and moral development should be used in making decisions.
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