Jones Alley
nuke the whalers
Japan has been "angling" for some time to have the international bans and limitations on whaling eliminated so that they can return to harvesting these leviathans in order to expand their sushi menus.
It has been known for some time that the whales are one of the more intelligent families of animals on the planet. Sperm whales and killer whales are really just enormously huge dolphins with brains that exceed the human brain in size and match it in complexity. They are known to have complex relationships and to communicate with each other, even having different "dialects" of their cetacean "languages" from group to group.
Whales were hunted to near-extinction for a few centuries by a world hungry for their rich oils, ambergris, bone, teeth, and meat. Over the last couple of decades, they have made a tiny but promising population rebound. They are still threatened by human beings, even if no hunting were taking place, by the sonar of our military vessels, pollution, global warming, and collisions with marine vessels.
In recent and appalling display of disingenuousness supporting the efforts to resume humpback whale hunting, Japanese official Joji Morishita stated that whale watching and whale hunting could occur at the same time and that we should just think of the whales as being future steaks. His remarks indicated that it was the same as watching cows at a ranch and then going out for a hamburger.
That may be true on a certain level, but there are some significant differences here. Cows are not an endangered species, and are bred and raised specifically for the purpose of being harvested. Cows are also, largely due to artificial selection, not known as being one of the most intellectually gifted creatures on the planet.
Although I have long admired Japanese culture, I am disgusted by their insistence that they have some inherent right to deplete the dwindling stock of some of the rarest and most magnificent creatures on the planet just in order to impress their friends with the highest-priced item on the menu at their favorite restaurant.
It's too bad the whales are only intelligent and not technologically adept as well. If they were, I would advise them to supply some mushrooms for those yummy whale steaks.
Japan has effectively declared war on the whales, and it's a shame the whales are unable to fight back. A couple of 20-kiloton fission bombs on large population centers in Japan would work wonders to persuade the residents to stick with more common sea creatures for dinner.
It's a method that's worked before.
It has been known for some time that the whales are one of the more intelligent families of animals on the planet. Sperm whales and killer whales are really just enormously huge dolphins with brains that exceed the human brain in size and match it in complexity. They are known to have complex relationships and to communicate with each other, even having different "dialects" of their cetacean "languages" from group to group.
Whales were hunted to near-extinction for a few centuries by a world hungry for their rich oils, ambergris, bone, teeth, and meat. Over the last couple of decades, they have made a tiny but promising population rebound. They are still threatened by human beings, even if no hunting were taking place, by the sonar of our military vessels, pollution, global warming, and collisions with marine vessels.
In recent and appalling display of disingenuousness supporting the efforts to resume humpback whale hunting, Japanese official Joji Morishita stated that whale watching and whale hunting could occur at the same time and that we should just think of the whales as being future steaks. His remarks indicated that it was the same as watching cows at a ranch and then going out for a hamburger.
That may be true on a certain level, but there are some significant differences here. Cows are not an endangered species, and are bred and raised specifically for the purpose of being harvested. Cows are also, largely due to artificial selection, not known as being one of the most intellectually gifted creatures on the planet.
Although I have long admired Japanese culture, I am disgusted by their insistence that they have some inherent right to deplete the dwindling stock of some of the rarest and most magnificent creatures on the planet just in order to impress their friends with the highest-priced item on the menu at their favorite restaurant.
It's too bad the whales are only intelligent and not technologically adept as well. If they were, I would advise them to supply some mushrooms for those yummy whale steaks.
Japan has effectively declared war on the whales, and it's a shame the whales are unable to fight back. A couple of 20-kiloton fission bombs on large population centers in Japan would work wonders to persuade the residents to stick with more common sea creatures for dinner.
It's a method that's worked before.
posted by Milo Johnson at 7:28 PM
3 Comments:
It makes me ill, too. I heard it was coming on the radio yesterday, and was just hoping for a miracle.
They're as bad as we are, arent' they?
yeah, it makes me sick, too. they ought to stop it now.
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