Whales could be extinct within decades
Posted on 07/02/2008 10:49:43 AM PDT by yankeedame
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 4:57 PM on 02nd July 2008
The steeply declining number of whales in the world's oceans is causing the remaining creatures to suffer loneliness and 'lose the will the live', a leading expert has claimed.
The psychological impact of over-hunting on the highly intelligent and sociable animals has been identified as the latest threat to the survival of the species.
The whale population has already fallen dramatically over the past few centuries because to culling by Japan, Norway and Iceland, and the poisoning of oceans which kills off their food.
Whales could be extinct within decades
But now a French scientist has said the majestic mammals - which can reach 80ft in length and weigh the same as a passenger jet - could also suffer from heartbreak.
Paris naturalist Yves Paccalet said: 'It may be that these intelligent animals are so exhausted from their combat with humankind that they have simply have given up the fight.
'And the psychological consequences of our aggression have compromised their will to live.' ....
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
BLUE WHALES?..............
Whales are highly intelligent animals who pose no threat to human beings and make the world a little more intersting and beautiful.
There is no justifiable reason for hunting and killing these creatures.
Bush’s fault!
Wonder how they got the whale on the psychiatrist couch so they could as it about its feelings.
Folks like this are delusional.
I agree completely — especially with regards to the large whales, which are most endangered.
Blue whales haven’t been hunted by anyone in 21 years - this story is entirely bogus.
Is there some reason why pressure has not been put on these countries to reduce or stop their whaling? If the U.S. were doing it, we'd never hear the end of it.
I am very much against moonbat conservationists, because they distract attention from the real issues. But overfishing and whale extinction are certainly real issues.
And this, of course, buried near the end of the copy:
'Climate change is also looming as a danger"
Knew I'd find it somewhere (even though the oceans are getting colder).
The sad thing, this guy will probably get a government grant for further study and his delusions will be taken as credible science by the media and the liberals.
There is no justifiable reason for hunting and killing these creatures.
There appears to be a sharp divergence of opinion regarding this issue. I'm on your side.
Thanks for posting.
I remember hearing exaclty the same thing in the 1970s. Four decades later and whales still aren’t extinct.
Want to watch a liberal’s head explode? Tell him that you favor the rights of indigenous peoples to hunt and eat whales as they see fit without the white man telling them how to live their lives.
The Left is a bottomless pit of stupidity.
Jacques Cousteau farting underwater might say:
“I swear too you, it eez jelly fish!”
So how does Yves no the Blue Whales are bummed out? Are they increasing their dosages of Prozac? Staying home and sleeping a lot? No longer taking part in activities that used to please them?
“no” s/b “know”
I’m still working on my “whale ranch” idea (raise large herds (pods) of whales in the Gulf of Mexico, genetically engineer them for highest possible oil production, have “whale drives” to get them to market, etc, etc).
Whale oil makes a renewable, alternative energy source, you know!
Agree. They are highly intelligent as well as dolphins.
Is there any justification at all for taking whales? Do they provide anything for which they are the sole source? I know little, if anything, about whaling but have often wondered why anyone does it anymore.
I have a friend whose parrot died after he got divorced and had to work 2 jobs. The parrot got lonely. Sounds corny, but that’s what the guy said, and, well, he’s Navy and not the type to whine. It never occurred to me that a parrot could be lonely, so I suppose this could be true in some instances.
My guess is that in some cases like the Norweigans, its a way of life and an industry and if they couldn’t whale they would have to find something else. Guess a lot of a dead whale goes into dog food from what I read. Sounds like kind of a waste, no?
Considering how intelligent, beautiful and interesting they really are, I could’t kill one unless my life depended on it - which is most unlikely.
Whale oil makes a renewable, alternative energy source, you know!
You're stealing my tagline. :-)
Translation:
“They seem to be going away faster than they are actually getting farmed, so we will just make some stuff up and blame that on whale harvesting also. We will get some ‘leading expert’ with some sob story quotes so it sounds like science and then call the whole story news.”
I think I heard some government scientist somewhere say this about roaches too.
N U K E the G A Y W H A L E S for C H R I S T
In the old days of whaling, the drive was for whale oil rendered from whale blubber, spermaceti from the oil of sperm whales as a fine machine lubricant, baleen from baleen whales for corsets, and ambergris for perfume and that’s about it.
Don’t know of any big demand for corsets, ambergris or whale oil today.
Sorry about that.
Do you want to invest in my whale ranch? I’m looking for partners.
I agree. Just this past Saturday we were out on our boat and got to visit a few Orca. I think it was “A”-Pod. Mom, dad and a very little one. They were fun to hang out with for a bit.
Well, hey, I don’t know what the greenies are worried about, after all Whales are air breathers and merely contribute to the worlds CO2 problem every time they come up to take a breath, better for them to die and decrease the CO2 content of our atmosphere!/SAR
Historical Tidbit:
The best blackpowder bullet lube (reputedly) is a mixture of sperm whale oil and beeswax. So you had to kill whales before you could decimate the buffalo.
But it was not mere loneliness, but rather mankind's lack of appreciation for Willie the Operatic Whale's vocal abilities that rendered the cetacean despondent.
(Psalm 104)
There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both great and small.
There the ships go to and fro,
and the leviathan, which Thou hast formed to frolic there.
And from Revelation:
Thou art worthy, O Lord,
to receive glory and honour and power:
for thou hast created all things,
and for thy pleasure they were created.
Exactly. I have all the respect in the world for the activists who physically interfere with the Japanese “research” whalers.
Part of the show was the anguishing, agonizing death of a baby blue whale. Only it wasn't killed by man, but by a school of killer whales. I don't see how any of these babies make it past infancy--the killer whales have such a tactical advantage over the slow-moving whale mother, who has no defences. The killer whales harry the pair, exhaust them with chasing, engage in tag-team attacks. You may have seen on TV the way the killer whales treat a hapless seal--playing with him like a cat with a mouse.
Perhaps if the whale had evolved some protections--like having the male of the mating pair stick around--but the superior hunting abilities make the big whale a victim.
I’m glad you posted that. I agree. Leave the whales alone.
I thought this was a joke, but these people are serious. Sigh... I’m speechless.
Sounds like someone needs a big HUG? These ladies will oblige...........
I saw that—I think David Attenborough was narrating the program. It was sad. It took hours—6 or more I think for them to finally do the whale in and then they only ate a little bit of it. It was a very good documentary.
I didn’t think there was anything that a whale can provide that we don’t have a substitute for now days.
What a shame.
I shoot my blackpowder guns - Hawken, Enfield Model 1858,and Thompson Center quite well with modern lubricant and crisco, but I guess back then it was the best. I know they also valued bear grease. At least you could make bacon from the bear and take it yourself with a gun.
OK ZULO, I’ll take issue with your statement.
Just because millions of people live in cities & drive to the store to buy food raised and killed by someone else, does not mean that all people live that way and should not be forced to. The Eskimo and Alaskan native population as well as the Russian coastal populations were there LONG before a safeway was ever built in your city and they NEED these whales as their livelihood and food. They can not travel thousands of miles to a store. There are hundreds of thousands of people who still live off the land. Hunting whales is not just to slaughter them for sport. They use every square inch, from stomach to bone for clothing, tools, shelter and food.
Stop living in your city-dwelling bubble of thinking and stop dictating to subsistence populations how they should live.
Without God, there would be nothing. I always find it easier to see the fingerprints of God in nature instead of a city.
So do I
I was watching the show Dead Men Talking a few months ago. They had a case where this guy had some kind of white bird—Cockatoo maybe and they were really close. Well the guy got brutally murdered. The bird actually attacked the attacker. The bird was killed too, but he had enough of the murderer’s DNA on him that they were able to get the guy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.