by Joseph Malek

Created on: July 13, 2009   Last Updated: August 07, 2009

For more than 300 years people have been hunting whales for a number of reasons. Whales were and are a food source. Whales also provide oil that can heat and/or light a home. Some of the bones of whales were used for the making of tools, decorative objects and clothing. As a matter of fact, primitive Man also hunted whales during prehistoric times, but we are most concerned with the last 300 years of history.

As such, it is no wonder to me why whales continue to be hunted, in spite of the whale hunting bans that were imposed for the purpose of preventing many different kinds of whales from becoming extinct. Big money can be made just from what one whale contains. The meat from one whale can feed an entire village of people for a very long time. Then again, the most desirable whales are those that contain the most oil, which are usually the largest whales, in terms of the different types of whales that swim within the oceans of the World.

We all know that greedy people will do almost anything for money. Then again, if the use of whale parts was not allowed to be used for oil lamps, perfumes and assorted decorative items maybe fewer whales would be killed. On the other hand, people require food and many primitive people still hunt whales for food, as well as fish and other creatures of the sea.

Be that as it may, many large kinds of whales are on the brink of extinction. The right whale is one of those that could vanish. The blue whale, gray whale, humpback whale and the sperm whale are in no less danger as long as the people within the Governments of Japan and Russia continue to allow the hunting of whales for commercial purposes.

In any event, if those large whales continue to be hunted they will all vanish from our oceans. Every animal has a reason for being within the food chain. Clearly, we do not need what whales have to offer in the way of food and other products.

Then again, those bans imposed to prevent whale hunting need to be enforced. Such illegal whale hunting must be stopped one way or another. Clearly, a new whale hunting ban needs to be passed by the members of the United Nations, together with the ability of that Governing body to take action against all who violate such a hunting ban.

The efforts of those save the whales groups cannot be everywhere to protect the safety of the few remaining large whales that swim within our oceans. As a matter of fact, some fishing fleets are protected by the Navy of the Country from which those fishing fleets originate. I also wonder who or what next will be hunted after the whales are gone forever.

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