Quote:
Originally Posted by PulpMind
A huge reason those numbers have dropped is because whale populations have declined drastically in the last 30 years because of, *drum roll* WHALING.
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The reason the numbers in the chart fell off is due to the International Whaling Commission(IWC) declaring a moratorium on commercial whaling. Japan is claiming the remaining whale take is for research purposes only. There are papers that have been published using the data gathered. Population decline is mentioned nowhere, but if what the chart shows were due to population decline I would expect to see a continuous gradual decline. Not a sudden instantaneous reduction followed by stability at that reduced level.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PulpMind
They don't reproduce fast enough to make any kind of commercial scale whaling sustainable.
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Please provide evidence for this statement
Quote:
Originally Posted by PulpMind
Whales don't provide humans with anything we can't get somewhere else in a more sustainable fashion. Except that it tastes delicious, which is hardly a reason.
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Tasting delicious is a perfectly sufficient reason to kill all kinds of other animals, why are whales an exception to this rule?
Also, if the animals are being killed for research purposes, the researchers are required
by law to sell what is useful that is left from the animal. This makes it much more difficult to tell if the meat is being gathered solely for commercial purposes, although it certainly increases incentive to do 'research'.