By: James Wassell

Whaling is the hunting of whales and started in the year 4,000 BC.

o Traditional Arctic whaling developed rapidity with early organized fleets in the

17 hundreds, competitive national whaling industries started in the 18 and 19

hundreds; and the start of factory ships along with the process of whale

"harvesting“ in the first half of the 20th century.

o Whaling is the hunting of whales for their meat and by-products such as oil krill and bone

o Whaling started back around the 9th century. The first type of large-scale whale hunting took place in Spain, the business grew and by the end of the 19th century many other countries had adopted this industry and developed large whaling industries.

o In the late 19th century, Norwegian whalers developed the method currently used to kill whales, the exploding harpoon.

o Over time many species were hunted until they were close to extinction and it became very apparent that whaling could not continue on such a large scale.

o In 1986 the International Whaling Commission (IWC) adopted a worldwide ban on commercial whaling

Critically Critically EndangeredEndangered

EndangeredEndangered VulnerableVulnerable

•Blue Whale•Gray Whale

•Blue Whale •Fin Whale

•North Pacific Right Whale •North Atlantic Right Whale

•Sei Whale

•Beluga•Sperm Whale

o The International Whaling Commission (IWC) was set up after the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling was signed, which was done in Washington DC on the 2nd of December 1946.

o The purpose of the Convention is to provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and making it possible to continue development of the whaling industry.

The main duties:o Protection of certain whale specieso Setting up whale sanctuarieso Limit number and size of whales that can be

takeno Set open and closed whaling seasons

Not every country is a member of the IWC, so when they go whaling it is illegal and can be

prosecuted.

The main problem with whaling is reporting false catches and using scientific whaling as a loophole to be able to use whale for food.

o Canadao The Caribbean Islandso Greenlando Icelando Norwayo Japano United States

Even though the International Whaling Commission has banned whaling, it still exists.

Whaling is now done mainly for food

o Over 1000 beluga whales and 300 to 400 narwhals are taken annually by Inuit hunters.

o Also, one bowhead whale is taken approximately every two years.

o Hunt several dozen short-finned pilot whales and a certain number of dolphins.

o They possessed an IWC subsistence-whaling permit for 20 humpback whales for the years 2003-2007.

o Two other Caribbean Islands that are not members of the IWC—hunt approximately 400 short-finned pilot whales and several species of dolphins.

o They do this out of native tradition.

o Has a whaling quota of 19 fin whales a year.

o They also hunt nearly 500 narwhals and over 600 beluga whales annually, along with pilot whales and harbor porpoises thus making Greenland one of the main whaling country.

o Iceland carried out scientific whaling in 2003-2004.

o A total of 36 minke whales were hunted in 2003; 25 in 2004.

Norwayo Hunts approximately 700 minke whales

every year in its territorial waters.

o Member of the IWC, has a scientific permit and kills approximately 700 whales every year, mostly minke whales, but also about 50 bryde’s whales and sei whales and 10 sperm whales.

o The Japanese also hunt small cetaceans; they kill more than 20,000 dolphins and porpoises annually in their coastal waters.

o Japan is the leading country in whaling and has been caught whaling illegally numerous times.

o In the United States whaling is only carried out by Alaska natives from nine different communities in Alaska.

o The whaling program is managed by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission which reports to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

o The hunt takes around 50 Bowhead Whales a year

o Alaskan natives are very strict on whaling, if a member is caught illegally whaling they can serve up to life in prison.

o Commercial is the illegal hunting of whales for food without permission.

o Substance is whaling carried out by native groups who have a long tradition of whaling and can show the IWC that whaling is needed for their people.

o Scientific is what some people call a loophole in whaling where countries with permission can hunt large numbers of whales and do DNA testing, digestive testing and weight testing, then sell whale as food.

o Whaling is still a pretty simple practice that has not changed very much.

o The whale is killed with an exploding harpoon attached to the ship.

o Air is pumped through the harpoon to make the whale float and is dragged on the side of the ship to a larger factory ship.

o This ship hauls the whale onboard butchers and stores the whale allowing for more whales to be killed.

o Traditional whaling is still used by Inuit people.

o Most hunting is in shallow waters along the coast they use hand harpoons and chase the whale by boat until it dies.

o The whale will then sink to the bottom for a few days then resurface and drift to shore where they butcher and use every part of the whale.

o IWC reported evidence from genetic testing of whale meat and blubber for sale on the open market in Japan.

o In addition to the legally-permitted minke whale, the analyses showed that the 10-25% tissues sample came from non minke, baleen whales species.

o Russia has been systematically underreporting the number of whales it takes.

o 48,477 Humpback Whales rather than the 2,710 it officially reported to the IWC.

o The activist organization Earth Trust sent undercover employees to Korean ports.

o The employees took photographs of whales being processed in violation of the ban and of whaling equipment

o Green Peace put out ads that show Japanese whaling to stop the scientific whaling in Japan.

o IWC has put out restrictions on whaling but can’t enforce them if the country is in international waters.

o Whale Wars, a TV show where the group called the sea shepherd and their boat the Steve Irwin have raised the bar in anti-whaling.

o They have gone to such extremes of throwing stink bombs at ships, ramming ships, immobilizing ships, and piracy.