Zach Affolter

1/14/10

Pm

Japanese Whaling: Merciless Slaughter or Harmless Research?

Imagine yourself as a Minke Whale being chased by a whaling vessel in the Antarctic

Ocean. After half an hour, BAM! You get hit by a harpoon. You instantly feel agonizing pain in

your side. You still fight for another fifteen minutes, until the whalers shoot you with a shotgun

until you die. Every year this happens to over 900 non-protected whales in an ocean sanctuary. I

believe that this, along with all the other animals being slaughtered right now, is wrong. Sea

Shepherd Conservation Society has brought the TV show of whale wars to us, that is my source.

One of the main problems of whaling is that over 60% of whales do not die

instantaneously, according to records taken recently. In fact, some whales may not die for an

hour or more, following a long and exhausting chase. There are some cases where it only takes a

minute or less for a whale to die. However, the whale can still feel the pain while it is choking on

its own blood. There is evidence all over the world to prove this some including Books, videos,

movies, & TV shows. If the whales do not die instantly, they are shot at again with either a

second harpoon or rifle shot until the whale dies.

Another problem that whaling has is eventually, whaling will bring whales into

extinction. Killing whales at this rate will result as this previous sentence within a span of fifty

years, based on famous environmentalists. When all the whales are gone, people will wonder

why we didn’t do anything, why didn’t we care. When the whales are gone, it will set marine

ecosystem off balance. When that happens, other marine species will start to vanish as well until

eventually; there is nothing but water left in the ocean. Without the ocean, all life would vanish

one by one, including humans. 7 out of 10 humans rely on fish as a source of protein. Without

fish, we would die. This would cause our beautiful planet, Earth, to be ordinary. Dead and boring

like all the other planets known.

Some people may say that Japan is only doing it because of so called scientific research

or their culture. However, one does not need to kill over 900 whales for scientific research. As

for their culture, statistics show that less than 10% of Japan eats whale meat. Others may say that

it’s just for money. However, I think that more people would prefer watching whales in the wild

rather than watching them die. In fact, millions of people watch whales every year, which is a

billion dollar business per year. Not to mention it would save our planet.

In conclusion, I believe that whaling should not continue. It is merciless and unnecessary.

It would also make our planet more torn up than it already is. Just imagine a whale dying,

choking on their own blood. 900 whales are (for a 6 month period) slaughtered illegally in a

protected whale sanctuary. If we allow this to happen, our mother Earth would be another dead

planet, along with all the others known. Action is being taken. Recently, the 900 whales have

been cut in half, thanks to Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. We can change. We have before.

It’s our world. It’s our chance. Let’s make it right.