Nineteenth-Century Harpoon Found in Live Whale

[salinen]

BOSTON — A 50-ton bowhead whale caught off the Alaskan coast last month had a weapon fragment embedded in its neck that showed it survived a similar hunt — more than a century ago.

Embedded deep under its blubber was a 3½-inch arrow-shaped projectile that has given researchers insight into the whale's age, estimated between 115 and 130 years old.

The 49-foot male whale died when it was shot with a similar projectile last month, and the older device was found buried beneath its blubber as hunters carved it with a chain saw for harvesting



This whale was slaughtered by Alaskans who are permitted to take 255 whales over a five year period. Yes, these "traditionalists" are probably riding to the dock on snowmobiles, cruising off in their 150 h.p. boats, and who knows what "traditionalist" weapon they are using to kill the whales.

A fucking chain saw?

Rant off.

[shain from kane]

1. Shot last month by an 11-year old fat kid from Alabama?

[Bucky]

2. "embedded in its neck"

Whales have necks?

Seriously, though, if Inuits can kill whales because it's part of their people's cultural traditions, how come I can't kill Inuits? After all, that's certainly part of my ancestors' traditions. And if they can update from harpoons and kayaks to chainsaws and motorboats, surely I'm not required to actually handle the small pox blankets in practicing the traditional land clearing techniques of my ancestors. Right?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. Because Inuits are human beings.

You're perfectly welcome to hold hostility towards native americans like your ancestors did.

[Tyler Durden]

4. And ancient Inuits did their traditional hunting with powerboats, explosive harpoons, and chainsaws.

Riiiight.

You know what? If they want there "Traditional Hunting Rights," FINE.

Then they can hunt INTELLIGENT, ENDANGERED CETACEANS just like their ancestors: with paddled skin boats, hand thrown harpoons, and bone or stone knives to do the butchering.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. What's that got to do with anything?

I hear the same thing coming up every time a tribe want to build a casino- "the indians never had craps tables, therefore we shouldn't let them build their casino."

Who thinks that's any kind of argument?

"Then they can hunt INTELLIGENT, ENDANGERED CETACEANS just like their ancestors: with paddled skin boats, hand thrown harpoons, and bone or stone knives to do the butchering."

Actually, Tyler, the bowhead whale population is rebounding, and it's at no risk from the small numbers the Inuit are taking. You can't argue from a conservationist standpoint that they're doing anything wrong.

[Tyler Durden]

10. I'm arguing from the same viewpoint that condemns the Japanese.

Hunting Whales has about as much place in the 21st century as a Mountain Gorilla Barbecue. And seeing that they are at 10% of their pre-whaling stabilized population, I'd say let them rebound a few more decades. 50 a year of a large, intelligent, gentle and LONG LIVED creature is about 50 too many in my book.

By the way, in large cetaceans and a comparison with Gorillas, the whales win.

The Inuit claim they can hunt these creatures because their ancestors did. Fine. Let them hunt them like their ancestors did.

The last time I looked, a Casino never killed any endangered species.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

15. No, you're not.

Gorillas are highly endangered and even a few killings have a massive impact. The levels that the Japanese want to hunt whales are also unacceptable.

"And seeing that they are at 10% of their pre-whaling stabilized population, I'd say let them rebound a few more decades."

Ah, so you'd admit whaling would be acceptable if the population were large enough to sustain small scale hunting. So what should the population be? Bowhead whales, btw, are about @0% their pre-whaling stabilized population, "stabilized" , btw, even though the Inuit had been hunting them for thousands of years.

"The last time I looked, a Casino never killed any endangered species."

Last I looked, Inuits have never been a threat to whale populations.

[Tyler Durden]

17. Fine. Own a dog? Let's do some target practice (If you're going to play strawman)

Equally unnecessary.

Where the hell do you get me approving of whaling in any way, shape or form? And don't make the "Pigs are intelligent, too," BS Strawman either. How I wean myself from meat is my problem.

No. Whaling is obsolete, and in my book, counter-ecological. If you're an Inuit, 'scuse me, but it's time to join the 21st century in a couple of ways.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

19. Ah, but it's my dog.

If you want to raise dog for your own personal consumption, or hunt wild dog safely and responsibly, I'm not going to stop you.

"Where the hell do you get me approving of whaling in any way, shape or form? "

When you said we need to let the population rebound more before the inuit start.

"And don't make the "Pigs are intelligent, too," BS Strawman either. How I wean myself from meat is my problem."

What's wrong with it? You were arguing people shouldn't eat meat from intelligent creatures, yet us Westerners consume massive amounts of it.

"Whaling is obsolete, and in my book, counter-ecological. "

Ecologists disagree with you. The numbers the Inuit are hunting are perfectly fine.

"If you're an Inuit, 'scuse me, but it's time to join the 21st century in a couple of ways."

Excuse me if you're George Armstrong Custer, but forcing Native Americans to abandon their culture because you don't like it is way too 19th century.

[Tyler Durden]

30. Fine. I guess this is what ignore is for.

Hair splitters for the sake of conflict.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

38. LOL

[salinen]

25. How many Inuit watched

the final episode of the "Sopranos"? There are no aboriginal peoples living a "traditional" life in North America. Perhaps worldwide.

[salinen]

26. Would the inuits starve to death

without the whales?

[Tyler Durden]

31. That's the point, isn't it?

It's their GOD GIVEN RIGHT to behave as their ancestors did. (sarcasm off)

I don't live in an oak grove or worship WOTAN anymore either. I think it's way past time we gave an OK to people holding on to "traditions," and then doing them in the same manner as a boat off a Japanese whaling factory.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

37. No.

They also wouldn't die if we forced them to speak English and convert to Christianity, but that's not the point.

[Bucky]

6. Ah, you're one of those people who need the sarcasm tag, aren't you?

But you still get to the heart of my opinion. If the Inuit are human beings, why are they exempted from laws protecting whales?

Besides being a Conservation Dependent species, whales have demonstrated enough signs of intelligence that it's wrong to hunt them down.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

11. Why? Because the International Whaling Commission...

and other international whaling conservatory bodies have decided that whale populations have rebounded enough to allow isolated hunting among communities which have traditionally relied on whales for sustenance.

"Besides being a Conservation Dependent species, whales have demonstrated enough signs of intelligence that it's wrong to hunt them down."

Pigs are intelligent. You don't see anybody arguing against pork because it's intelligent.

[jollyreaper2112]

8. But what if I don't believe indians are people?

Certainly my ancestors didn't, they thought indians were devil children populating the heathen wilds of this great continent. So I still get to kill them today, right?

[Tyler Durden]

12. Don't behave like a jerk.

Notice, I didn't call you a jerk.

This is sort of a sore spot with a lot of people, self included.

[jollyreaper2112]

16. thank you for missing the point

--> the point
.0.
/|\
/ \
you

Do you people lack sarcasm detectors or something?

[Tyler Durden]

18. I GOT the sarcasm. First time it was amusing....

...but you did see it was touching a raw nerve, did you not? That's called a "sensitivity detector."

[jollyreaper2112]

21. Don't behave like you're overly sensitive.

Notice, I didn't call you overly sensitive.

You jumped on me after the first post. Way to accept someone who's on your side of the issue.

[Tyler Durden]

32. Hold on there, TEX.

It's just that we make certain people dig in their heels when we behave in certain ways.

Take my word for it: to be perfectly honest, I have ZERO validation for the Inuit and their High-Tech slaughter of intelligent cetaceans, and as strongly as I feel against whaling, that's using mucho self restraint.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

13. Then you'd be a racist.

:shrug:

[salinen]

7. My wife

just asked me why I was lol.

[Annces]

9. No one should be hunting whales including Inuit

It should be banned completely.


www.seashepherd.org

[Tyler Durden]

14. Bingo. no further comment needed. n/t

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

20. That's A Pretty Cool Story. How Wild Is That?

Thanks for the fascinating story.

[go west young man]

22. Let's stop all whaling.

http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_070607_1.html Fight for whales by giving to Sea Shepherd. Like the Canadian seal hunt it's past it's sell by date. It's time mankind put it's energy into studying and observing these amazing creatures. I'm curious as to wheather the Inuits are eating the whale meat or are they selling it? Either way overfishing the world over is showing negative effects and government bodies are always the last to recognize it.

[Annces]

23. Captain Watson also has a MySpace

where he posts additional articles. And you can add comments there if you have a Myspace account.

I can't believe people have been trying to stop the seal hunt for decades and it continues just for some fur pelts.

http://www.myspace.com/captainpaulwatson

[go west young man]

24. Great link! Thanks.

[salinen]

27. Dead whales

are very important to the whole ecological system. Without the influx of naturally dying whales floating to the ocean depths, the whole system suffers.

[go west young man]

28. Dying naturally is the key word.

[LostInAnomie]

29. Beating your wife for not obeying is a tradition for most cultures.

Maybe we should revive that one too. :eyes:

[Tyler Durden]

33. Another fine example for the abandonment of FOOLISH traditions.

And if anyone wants to call harpooning and exploding a charge INSIDE of an intelligent creature a meaningful tradition, well...

[jmowreader]

34. I found this kinda interesting

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2005773.stm

Apparently the Inuit in Alaska use traditional boats and traditional harpoons when they kill their fifty whales per year, which amount to half the protein consumed by the tribe. (The Inuits live WAY the fuck up there.) They estimate that without the whale meat, they'd deplete the caribou herds.

They've switched from stone axes to chainsaws for the butchering process because the whole point of this exercise is to get the whale cut up before its body heat starts cooking it--which makes it harder to store for the year. Chainsaw good, stone axe bad.

[Tyler Durden]

35. I really don't care if they kill it with VOODOO.

As Ganhdi said in the 30's "It is costing the Congress party a fortune to keep me in poverty."

Time to gracefully let go the things of the youth of the human race.

[KurtNYC]

36. found in "a live whale" ? maybe they have a different definition for "live"

than I do. Generally a whale that has been slaughtered and cut up and they find an old weapon inside of it is referred to as "dead."