South Korea Whaling Plan May Be Abandoned Amid Criticism

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea says it may scrap research whaling plans that have been widely criticized.

Fisheries official Kang Joon-suk said Wednesday that Seoul may drop the plans if it finds ways to study whales without killing them.

The government said last week that it would allow the killing of whales for research because fishermen were complaining that whales were eating large amounts of fish.

The announcement drew protests from non-whaling nations and environmentalists who suspected the plan was a cover for commercial whaling.

Kang wouldn't describe how South Korea might conduct research without whaling. Australia uses sonar and satellite devices to track whales. The environmental group Greenpeace recommends analysis of feces to study whale diets.

South Korea had a long tradition of whaling before an international moratorium was introduced in 1986.

Loading Slideshow

• A humpback whale tail breaches off Sydney Heads at the beginning of whale watching season during a Manly Whale Watching tour on June 23, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

• A humpback whale emerges from the surface of the Pacific Ocean at the Uramba Bahia Malaga natural park in Colombia, on July 22, 2011. (LUIS ROBAYO/AFP/Getty Images)

• In this picture taken on September 23, 2011, an aquarium employee swims with a whale shark in an aquarium tank in the city of Yantai, northeastern Shandong province.

• A humpback whale is seen breaching outside of Sydney Heads at the beginning of whale watching season during a Manly Whale Watching tour on June 23, 2011 in Sydney, Australia.

• In this photo taken July 21, 2011, a baby gray whale is seen with its mother in the Klamath River in Klamath, Calif.

• Female orca Wikie swims with her calf born by artificial insemination on April 19, 2011 at Marineland animal exhibition park in the French Riviera city of Antibes, southeastern France.

• An 8.5 metre-long juvenile humpback whale remains stranded on Anaconda beach in La Paloma, department of Rocha, in southeastern Uruguay, on January 27, 2011. AFP

• A humpback whale is seen breaching outside of Sydney Heads at the beginning of whale watching season during a Manly Whale Watching tour on June 23, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

• The tail of a humpback whale emerges from the surface of the Pacific Ocean at the Uramba Bahia Malaga natural park in Colombia, on July 22, 2011. (LUIS ROBAYO/AFP/Getty Images)

• Watch As Whale Jumps Out Of Water And Bumps Canoe

  A couple canoeing in Maui film the moment when a breaching whale his their canoe while paddling out in the ocean.

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Comments

[Kommonman]

01:26 AM on 07/12/2012

Of course whale eat large amounts of fish...the ocean is their home and fish and krill are their dietary staples...Humans on the other hand have other options...but things like eating wahle flesh or drinking tigher bone wine still fill the visions of certain segments of the worlds population...The ignorance will be cured only once the last ounce of resource is gone....and then we can start feeding on each other

[Bioniclepluslotr]

07:40 PM on 07/11/2012

Whales have as much right to fish as humans. And I was under the impression that whales ate krill.

[jep121212]

08:45 PM on 07/11/2012

I agree that the Whales have as much if not more right to "FISH" than humans. We have the land. Anyhow, there are about 90 species of whales and dolphins. Most Marine biologists consider the smaller toothed whales (fish eaters) as dolphins and porpoises. Killer Whales apear to be the largest of these. Then you have the spem whale and other larger toothed whales. The largset of the whales, the Blue and the other largest whales are plankton eaters (Krill) and other stuff).

[Ashley Lesniak]

06:30 PM on 07/12/2012

If not more right to fish and eat the fish after all its there food! We are invading their home and taking their food. Leave them alone!

[julianreischl]

07:32 PM on 07/11/2012

It is the whale's natural right to eat large amount of fish. We, humanity, will have to make do with what's left. And also, we have to leave lots in order not to extinct any species. With great [brain] comes great responsibility.

[stgir]

06:53 PM on 07/11/2012

What a joke. Kill whales to research what they eat. Nonsense! I am so discouraged with how we manage our planet.

[Edy Williams]

06:00 PM on 07/11/2012

Congraulation, Gooo S. Korea,! set the path we have all be saying a prayer for. Deep down Mother Nature is truly effected by the slaughter of thousands of whales! We know of the currents, the Flows, the ground deep down on our earth. These worlds largest mammals protect all that for us! Look at "Easter Island" they cut down ALL their palm trees to put up statues & the entire lovely Island fried, died away.
Korea may show the rest a great example!

[missouriwatcher]

05:56 PM on 07/11/2012

ALL these whaling countries need to abandon the practice.  There is no good reason for whaling, they have, or could have,  plenty of other income-producing industries without killing off whales.

[Aeryn Reid]

05:23 PM on 07/11/2012

Save the whales! The future will need them again after the collapse of oil-driven civilization! All these bio-fuel resources must be preserved to restart the human tech-culture.

[Ellen Mass]

05:16 PM on 07/11/2012

for one thing, not all whales eat fish. do they differentiate which whales they eat, er kill for research? There is NO good reason for killing whales no matter what they eat.

[Edy Williams]

06:02 PM on 07/11/2012

Yes, the Japanese still torpedo OUR whales, how sad to drag them up the back of their boats.So Innocent &magnificent they are with only ONE cald every two yesrs Evil! They give all that Mercury & poison their own people.!

[LillyyF]

04:38 PM on 07/11/2012

When they say research they mean to say eat.

[GuyRC]

03:33 PM on 07/11/2012

Too funny. We are going to kill whales for research because fishermen say they are eating too many fish. I guess the research is to see if there are any fish inside the whales?

[Edy Williams]

06:04 PM on 07/11/2012

This B.S "Research" could be one whale!! But hundreds they destroy? Even thousands for Research

[Theunknown85]

01:39 PM on 07/11/2012

Its to bad the whales dont just knock those whaling ships over and let those aboard see what its like to be hunted.

[LillyyF]

04:40 PM on 07/11/2012

Orca whales sometimes attack ships. They dont migrate to Korea as far as I know... If only they did lol

[missouriwatcher]

05:58 PM on 07/11/2012

In the past, grey whales also did--back when they were being hunted.  Other whales also do so; too bad today the ships are not like Captain Ahab's.

[CraigNazor]

11:47 PM on 07/11/2012

There is no known record of orcas intentionally attacking and killing humans in the wild, not even in the long history of native peoples. It just doesn't happen - they don't see us as prey, and they don't see us as a threat (they're wrong about that, of course). There are, however, many records throughout history of dolphins saving the lives of humans.

There is also this:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2560871/Beluga-whale-saves-drowning-divers-life.html

And this:

http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/exploring-science-and-nature/131929/save-the-seal

Whales are magnificent, fascinating creatures, and we are lucky to share a planet with them. A very small minority of humans show their gratitude by killing them.