Did you know that Whales could sing? Their songs are not audible for us like how the birds’ songs but through technology, we can hear it. They are beautiful to listen. You can hear it in several documentary videos featuring the humongous creatures. Whales are sweet creatures that just roam in the ocean like how we rock the streets in the weekends. We can even call them the royalty of the marine ecosystem. But not all see them as such. Iceland and Japan are two such nations who are seriously into whaling (whale hunting).
People in Japan are overly fond of whale meat. Of course no one has the right to dictate what food a person of a country has to eat and not eat but killing species of such stature is a pitiable sight. During this year, Hvalur HF, Iceland’s Fin-Whaling company killed several whales and exported their meat chiefly to Japan. The set their target to killing 209 whales this year and are looking to reach for it. What is more even terrific is that the whaling company has killed 11 pregnant whales this year. The CEO of the company, Kristján Loftsson said “There is nothing unusual or illegal about killing pregnant fin whales”.
Living in Tamil Nadu, we are prone to hear the government prohibit fishing during the fish reproductive season. A 2 months prohibition will be made effective for nature to restore itself. Having heard such news and hearing such a shocking statement from Iceland is a little stressful.
Wait, there is more. Japan has announced now that they will resume commercial whaling from July 2019. The official statement came from Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga. Till now Japan is a member of International Whaling Commission (IWC). Whaling has been banned by IWC since 1986 and Japan agreed but now it will directly hunt for whales in its own region. Yoshihide said that the country won’t hunt in Antarctic and northern Pacific side. According to sources, Japan currently hunts about 600 whales in the Antarctic region. Whales are already under several threats from the poachers and exotic meat smugglers who illegally hunt them and sell it to restaurants that serve it to the head honchos. Now legalizing it would promote greed, leading to a massive drop in whale counts and resulting in the start of extinction.
If people don’t intervene this or remain shut, like the whale song, the whale’s cries too would go unheard.