Whales!

Whales! I think my brain has been stuck on whales all weekend because my son Jonathan was Cornelius in "Hello Dolly" this weekend. Often in the play he yells: "Whales! Barneby, we're going to see the Whales!" Apparently before the turn of the previous century there did indeed exist live whales in New York on exhibit. Did P.T. Barnum Keep Live Whales in His Museum on Broadway? But in the play it is a stuffed whale. Hopefully our future does not hold only stuffed whales because there are no real ones.

 Whaling has been officially banned in 1986 by the International Whaling Commision.Wiki on Whaling But each country is allowed a certain quota for "research purposes". Japan hunted for whales within a southern sanctuary set up to protect wildlife near Australia and called it scientific. And then selling the meat (which is a delicacy in Japan) to cover their "research" costs. Australia sued them and won. They are now forbidden to hunt whales by The United Nations' International Court of Justice in The Hague and their "scientific" research shut down. Japan is disappointed but says it will comply.

 So here is an article about this development- the most interesting, but be forewarned the footage had me in tears. I can't stand the killing of something so profoundly beautiful and innocent!.U.N. Court Orders Japan to Stop Whale Hunt, Time

It should noted as I did a bit of research for this (and mind you I don't know that much about whales other than they are beautiful and I remember seeing one at a distance when I was with my Uncle in his sailboat in Maine- I saw the spout!), but one comment in an article about Whales off of California stuck with me: apparently in recent years the whales have been coming close to investigate ships and can circle for hours in curiosity and bump a boat because they are no longer afraid! These are smart animals and Man I have come to believe is truly so stupid as to kill what is beautiful and should be appreciated. I once heard a statistic -that again I need to verify- that said %50 of all living things (besides Man) on land & in the sea have been killed off since I was born in 1960! Can you wrap your brain around that! Hopefully efforts to stop the whaling will continue, since technically the moratorium is to allow supplies to replenish. But if it could be seen as simple wrong- cruelty, perhaps it will stop.

One organization, with honestly radical tactics (but after seeing the whaling shots I'm thinking- go for it guys!) is Sea Shepherd and they can be credited with tormenting the Japanese Whaling vessels enough in the past years as to dramatically reduce their haul. Radical, but I'm sure the whales were cheering- I am too. The Whales Have Won! -Sea Shepherd

 It might be sci-fiction, but I love the Star Trek Movie #4 that has the crew of the Enterprise going back into the past (well our present at the time) to save a Humpback Whale (Clip of Star Trek 4- Stopping the whale hunters) because they didn't exist in the future- they were gone, extinct. So a silly adventure to be sure (worth watching for a smile, the only Star Trek that was a comedy.) Star Trek 4: "They are not the Hell your whales!"