The World and Whaling By Shane Cowman

Whaling and The world

The earliest forms of whaling go back to 3000 BC. Many coastal communities across the world where whales can be found have long lines of historical roots in whaling and harvesting beached whales. Industrial whaling became relevant with organized ship fleets in the 17th century. Whaling slowly started to become a competitive industry in the 18th and 19th centuries and with the introduction of factory ships along with the concept of harvesting whales in the first half of the 20th century. If you’d like to learn more about whaling and its history click the link provided http://iwc.int/whaling. The main problem with whaling today is the illegal poaching and over fishing of these whales. So the question we must ask ourselves is how much whaling is "too much" and can the various types of these whales species sustain their population afterward?


In today’s world many countries have given up whaling for good because many People became very concerned about whales suffering and dying. One country that became very concerned about the well being of the whales was the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom ended up writing letters and signing massive petitions calling for all whaling to

stop. With this the UK backed up the IWC in 1982 when the majority of IWC country members voted to stop killing whales for profit. The IWC is the International Whaling Commission; if you’d enjoy learning more about the IWC click the link provided http://iwc.int/home. It is an international organization set up by the terms of the International Convention for the regulation of Whaling. A whaling ban was then introduced in 1986. Unfortunately some countries like Japan, Iceland, and Norway have refused to stop whaling unlike the UK. After the ban was erected in 1986 Japan started a research program that is widely considered a cover to obtain the meat from the whales, When the scientists are finished with the whale its meat and oil are put up for sale to the mass public of Japan. When the Japanese scientists depart for their research they can kill up to 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales under the guise of scientific research. Despite the international ban on whaling, whales are still being killed on a daily basis. Japan was recently taken to international court on the allegations of their scientific research programme, under which it kills whales, is commercial whaling in disguise. If you’d like to read further on the case click the link provided http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23045457. Statistics also show that 1,400 whales are killed every year and 25,000 whales have been killed for commercial purposes since 1986, and 7 of the 13 species of great whales are still endangered. Even with the whales protected from hunting along with governments all across the world working together with industries and environmental groups to protect these whales, it’s hard to believe that so many whales are still being killed.