Commercial Whaling Agreement Between Nations Fails At International Whaling Commission

The Independent:

Nations discussing a plan to allow the first legal commercial whaling in almost 25 years, in an attempt to curb the number of whales hunted by a handful of countries, have failed to reach agreement.

Read the whole story: The Independent

Comments

[motoGpifupleez]

01:31 PM on 06/25/2010

Killed by hunting, killed by mercury contamination. Either way it goes, it was just their unfortunate luck to have to share this planet with us.

Of course, that applies to every other species of animal out there as well.

[olmossy]

11:10 PM on 06/24/2010

I wish all whaling would stop. Unfortunatly Japan doesn't come to me for advice.
Any ideas about what we could boycott from these countries to let them know how unhappy we are?

[SFTor]

11:42 PM on 06/23/2010

There are whale populations that could support a little whaling. The minke whale population is somewhere north of one million. To take a sustainable number of whales every year would not threaten the survival of these beautiful animals.

It appears to me that we would be better off with supervised and restricted whaling than an impasse where collaboration and control will increasingly break down.

Always remember that the perfect is the enemy of the good.

[edva]

11:09 PM on 06/23/2010

There is no excuse or justification for killing Whales. NONE. Anyone who condones it condones indefensible murder, in my eyes.

[KPinSEA]

04:16 AM on 06/24/2010

The thing about sovereign peoples is ... they don't need to justify anything to us about their culture.

While against this practice and hopeful that it will end in my lifetime, I am more opposed to cultural imperialism than whaling. We have no special moral authority to dictate such decisions to another people, and the attempt to do so comes across as more than a little arrogant.

I wouldn't appreciate Hindus coming to America to lecture me on eating cow ... or Saudi mullahs coming to America to lecture women on their attire and makeup. Of course we should continue to work towards a better, sustainable solution with the Japanese and Norwegians ... but demonizing them and pretending to have some moral perspective they lack won't get it donen.

[edva]

10:31 AM on 06/24/2010

Murder is murder in any culture. And I will be happy to lecture you on eating a cow.

[Ipanemagirl]

10:46 PM on 06/23/2010

Who needs whaling now a days????. Whale is a mammal and an endangered species because of humans hunting them to extinction. No more whaling in necessary...tell the japanese to go eat something else that crawls! eat snails , they are a pest and a delicacy!!!

[LittleMittens]

10:09 PM on 06/23/2010

How about NO WHALING AT ALL?! We have all manner of food and oil replacements for any whale need you could ever imagine. It's the 21st century, snap out of it already

[HLL]

10:18 PM on 06/23/2010

Fanned, LittleMittens. Thank you for expressing it so perfectly.

[Ipanemagirl]

10:48 PM on 06/23/2010

have you ever witnessed a whale hunt? Its the most cruel thing I have ever seen in my life,,,and whales are mammals , and dont deserve to be treated like fish!

[HLL]

09:03 PM on 06/23/2010

Between the turtles becoming extinct in the Gulf of Mexico and all the animals dying because of Deepwater Horizon's catastrophe - innocent whales are hunted. God. My heart is breaking. I thought we would have awakened by now. Below are links to help and for more info:

Save the Whales:
http://www.savethewhales.org/you_can_do.html

Stop Killing Whales:
http://www.madmermaids.com/stop_killing_whales.html

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society:
http://www.seashepherd.org/

Save The Whales Again:
http://www.savethewhalesagain.com/

Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society:
http://www.wdcs.org/

Greenpeace: Save the Whales:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/whaling/

GreenAnswers.com - Environmental Groups Rally to Protect Whales
http://greenanswers.com/news/170847/environmental-groups-rally-protect-whales?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Animal Planet:
http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/54688

Pierce Brosnan Urges Obama to Save the Whales:
http://www.tonic.com/article/pierce-brosnan-urges-obama-to-save-the-whales/

[edva]

11:08 PM on 06/23/2010

Bless you for posting. Would fan you again for your posts here if I could. You are so correct.

[HLL]

09:30 AM on 06/24/2010

Thank you, my friend. xo

[Ipanemagirl]

11:41 AM on 06/24/2010

Thanks HLL, fanned you for info!

[HLL]

12:05 PM on 06/24/2010

Fanned back at you, Ipanemagirl. For your compassion, your work with Greenpeace, and for what you have written here. I recognize a kindred Spirit and a warrior for animals. Thank you.

This is one of my favorite quotes because I believe it is true, and will assuredly manifest one day; that all animals will be protected and loved and we can all be friends and live together on this beautiful Earth in peace.

"The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them." ~ Isaiah 11: 6 (NIV)

[kiddub]

09:00 PM on 06/23/2010

No more whale hunts. Sign here, please.

[Binro the Heretic]

12:35 PM on 06/25/2010

Signed.

[omobob]

07:32 PM on 06/23/2010

“ Japan, which exploits a loophole allowing it to catch whales under an exemption for "scientific" whaling, agree to catch limits set by the commission and based on scientific advice.” If the Japanese have been studying whales for scientific reasons then the number of whales needed should be going down aftrre a decade of study and yet the Japanese have constitentlt asked to increase the number of whales taken? It is a sham amd should be heavily regulated and restricted..

[lillibelle]

10:30 PM on 06/23/2010

Faved. Sham loopholes, as such, deserve a very secure extraction.

[Ipanemagirl]

11:45 AM on 06/24/2010

of course its a sham and its time that this is stopped, Japanese like to eat whale meat,its very pricey, that is their "experiment" and it should be easy to make them stop by now, but certainly not by removing the ban! The moratorium should remain forever as whales are still in trouble. the blue whale is so rare it cannot find mates! Its time we stop killing the last few animals we have left!

[crisdel]

07:26 PM on 06/23/2010

This news is painfully disappointing. I actually had high hopes this time, but no, the world remains as heartless as ever.

[HLL]

08:40 PM on 06/23/2010

God I hate mankind. I really do. When will we see that harming an animal is a sin? Truly. It's unbearable. Especially these majestic creatures. So magical. Whales are too precious to be destroyed. For that matter, all animals are precious. When will we wake up?

"To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being."

~ Mahatma Gandhi

[hollybork]

09:18 PM on 06/23/2010

Fanned. I am with you, but I do not hate human beings.

I do think 'human beings' only make up about 1/10th of 1% of the total population of homo sapiens on earth at this particular time.

True human beings have compassion, ethics, patience, modesty, fear of wrong doing and a heart melting love of justice when they encounter it.

Human beings do not spend their time fulfilling the minute to minute impulses of their dog like desires, consuming and despoiling the world, never satisfied.

I have felt since i was a child that it was evil to hurt and to eat animals. I don't know how many children are born knowing this, inherently feeling the preciousness of creatures from ants in the grass to birds in the sky, frogs hopping at water's edge and slithering snakes sunning on rocks. Then children are programmed to not be human beings, to accept the abuse and murder of animals. They are not introduced to the elegant facts that there are fine vegetable, fruit and grain sources in this world that will fully nourish us and preserve our health as well as the health of our environment.

The lion lying down with the lamb is a dream at the heart of human beings. It is not just an allegory in paintings or poetry. It should be our goal. We can daily re-examine how to live a morally responsible life in a beautiful world of limited resources, overpopulation, and delicate eco systems.

[SFTor]

11:49 PM on 06/23/2010

Hello HLL:

I admire your compassion for animals. A few questions: do you own any leather shoes or belts? Do you use cosmetics or shampoo? Do you have any leather furniture, appointment books? Have you or any loved ones ever had any surgery?

It is near impossible to avoid using animal products in our daily lives, or to avoid benefitting from medicine developed on animals.

Mahatma Gandhi was a great man, no doubt. But if you could only avoid running over a person you hate by hitting a lamb you love, which one would you choose?

[bascombe]

07:19 PM on 06/23/2010

not to worry, after the whales pass through the gulf of mexico, the whales will be dead and/or uneatable.

[kiddub]

09:01 PM on 06/23/2010

Yay! We can pick them up with the booms.

Sad face.

[bascombe]

09:27 PM on 06/23/2010

I regret having to use the sarcasm as a defense mechanism in combining two horrific man-made disasters, with one a likely extinction event.

very sad and angry face. ;-(]

[Revee]

07:12 PM on 06/23/2010

I cannot understand how and why one can hunt such beautiful and majestic animals?
Will these countries be in favor of hunting elephants and giraffes, as well? Please don't reply - just a rhetorical.

[bascombe]

09:32 PM on 06/23/2010

the japanese have been extremely indifferent to the cruelty they inflict on sea life. extinction of a species does not seem to matter.

[Ipanemagirl]

11:58 AM on 06/24/2010

actually asians in general have been very callous and eat anything that moves... one of the million examples of their cruelty is: keeping poor sunbears alive in cages so they can suck out their bile for aphrodisiac purposes, inflicting so much pain on an innocent animal , for some ridiculous superstitious belief. I hope they poison themselves with the bile,as that would be a good ending to that story!They also eat dogs and cats by first beating them up alive, so they taste better,....

[seachange525]

06:49 PM on 06/23/2010

How can this be? Aren't we poisoning them and destroying their habitat fast enough? HOW CAN THE WORLD ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN????????????????

[bascombe]

07:21 PM on 06/23/2010

because we have created a world that does not care about anything they cannot exploit.

[edva]

11:21 PM on 06/23/2010

Yes, how? Amazing. Too much power in the hands of the few, one answer. So sad.

[lucylou]

05:58 PM on 06/23/2010

Why don't they just come to the Gulf and pluck them out of the ocean? They won't even have to add oil in the pan...