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  • Your thoughts on "Whale Wars"

    08. 03. 2009 14:24

Valefar
I recently argued with my GF concerning the tactics of the Sea Shepard crew of "Whale
Wars" on Animal Planet. Seeing as many of us are naval enthusiasts, I though I'd bring the
discussion here.

http://animal.discovery.com/tv/whale-wars/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_Wars

Synopsis: this series follows the crew of the Steve Irwin (SI), a ship who is crewed and
funded by the non-profit organization Sea Shepards. The SI (flying a Dutch flag)
interferes with Japanese boats off the coast of Antarctica as they harvest whales. The
Japanese maintain that they are researching sustainably whaling techniques, while the Sea
Shepards argue that it is in direct violation of International Law and barbaric.

I am pretty well-read concerning the international whaling laws, the Japanese research
efforts, the Sea Shepards' arguments against the Japanese, the history of Paul Watson (the
SI captain and Sea Shepard leader), but only have a limited knowledge of the show (I just
watched 3 episodes). The organization is based out of a town I used to live in, and I am
familiar with the political issues.

My questions are these:
-who do you support and why?
-is this show beneficial or detrimental to either organization involved?
-is there a better way to affect whale harvesting, regardless of motive?
-any other general thoughts by you?
-am I wasting my time here, and should I be paying attention to the conference call I am on?

I have my own opinions, and will state them once the thread gets going (I tried to be as
unbiased as possible in my descriptions). Since the original argument was with my GF, I
already started off as being wrong :P
  Index

  • Re : Your thoughts on

    04. 09. 2011 17:51

gregzilla
they should kill the whale hunters and feed them to sharks

  • Re : Your thoughts on

    04. 07. 2011 09:33

Emma9
@mysharona

I'm pleased that you're not the person you pretended to be earlier.


@valefar

Thanks, will look for it the next time i'm in a bookstore.

  • Re : Your thoughts on

    04. 06. 2011 08:19

Valefar
@Emma, Nightcrept, Quietcos

If you haven't already, check out "The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman (2007). Horribly
depressing, and he picks a couple of... interesting people to interview, but it is a
fascinating read.

  • Re : Your thoughts on

    04. 06. 2011 06:28

quietcos
Wow. I just saw the title and wondered why I'd never read this thread before, it's amazing
how epic lag opens your eyes to the dark side of NF life :P

I haven't read the rest of the thread yet, but I thought I'd share my views before I do
(maybe after I read the thread I'll come to a more educated answer - thus justifying
Valefar's avoidance if what was so obviously a very important conference call).

-who do you support and why?
I support the anti-whalers. They're doing a job our Navy should be doing (if they were
properly resourced). Antarctic waters belong to Australia, not Japan (and any arguments to
the contrary probably contradict Japans constitution).

-is this show beneficial or detrimental to either organization involved?
Don't know (I haven't watched it yet), but as they say, all publicity is good publicity.

-is there a better way to affect whale harvesting, regardless of motive?
Yes, Torpedoes are affective (and effective).

-any other general thoughts by you?
I hate that Australia lays claim to so much of Antarctica and yet pays little attention to
the way in which it's resources are managed. If economics were as rational as the rest of
science, it would be much different.

-am I wasting my time here, and should I be paying attention to the conference call I am on?
Yes and no. That is my answer and I'm sure it made as much sense as the rest of the
thread... good luck with it, what ever it was. :)

Oh, and Dog bless off-topic :P

  • Re : Your thoughts on

    04. 06. 2011 05:59

js23
emma i see where you are going but hunting is sometimes good, like around here it
hunting keeps the deer population in check, with out it we would have deer up to our
knees, so its really personal choice, I would not have a problem with hunting deer, my
dad and my grandad did it, but some animals should be left alone like whales.

  • Re : Your thoughts on

    04. 06. 2011 05:23

mysharona
emma, i sort of agree with you with most of what you say actually

just fancied a bit of chatter cos this forum is so grumpy serious all of the time

  • Re : Your thoughts on

    04. 06. 2011 04:30

Emma9
@mysharona

That's a familiar response. If you can't counter with valid points, simply dismiss
opposing arguments as spam. Anyhow, are you saying animals don't have rights?

As the dominant species, don't you think the onus is on us to respect and treat
other lifeforms who can't stand up for themselves, in a considerate way? Remember,
we do not own this planet. We merely share it.

If everyone thinks like you do, one day there will be nothing else but 20 billion
people on this planet. No animals, no plants, no life forms but humans. I shudder to
think how boring a place this world would be then.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

@nightcrept

True that. Species on Earth had come and go on its natural cycle for millions of years.
Humans come and the many species have vanished in doubly quick time.

  • Re : Your thoughts on

    04. 06. 2011 04:13

Nightcrept
@emma
I couldn't agree with you more.

The natural world runs on a cycle. Humans are the only species on the planet that can not
only remove ourselves from the cycle but remove our food sources as well. What I mean is
that when we farm produce or animals we remove them from the earths natural cycle.

Therefore humans really have no reason to engage in activities destructive to the earths
natural wildlife cycle.

In the case of hunting it gets a bit more complicated. In many cases like where my parents
currently live most of the large natural predators where eradicated centuries ago leaving
large prey animals like deer without natural predators. Combine that with strip mining and
other activities that create TEMPORARY unnatural food sources and you end up with over
population and sometimes severe disease. In a case like that you need hunters to thin the
herds. Fine I can live with that.

In the case of theses whales however Japan doesn't need to kill them. There are still
precious few of them.

  • Re : Your thoughts on

    04. 06. 2011 01:15

mysharona
someones got her knickers in a twist

i read your speech, but all i see is blah blah animal rights blah

  • Re : Your thoughts on

    04. 05. 2011 18:32

Emma9
@mysharona

You see, animals do not kill for sport. They kill only out of need, either when they're
hungry, or when they're threatened.

A tiger hunts a deer when it's hungry. Once it's stomach is full, a hundred deer could
walk by and it doesn't even care.

A snake doesn't wake up one day and think, oh let's go bite some person. No, it only
bites you when you wander into its territory and it feels threatened by your
presence.

Humans on the other hand, are different. Often, we kill not out of need, but simply
because we can. Just for the fun of it.

Which is why I firmly believe, that a lot of people in this world are downright scum
and their lives are worth nothing to me. If you should perish one day, I'd rejoice,
because the death of someone with your attitude ensures the continued survival of
tens or hundreds of animals.

Yes, the life of an animal is worth more than the life of a person who does not
respect nature's creations.
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