Whaling
hunting of whales / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Whaling is the practice of hunting whales. This is done to get meat and oil, called blubber. Hunters of whales are called whalers. Whaling has been done at least since 3000 BC.[1]
Many communities on the coast have done whaling for food for a long time. They have also killed stranded whales.
Industrialisation started in the 17th century and also affected whaling. Special ships were built for whaling, and whales were hunted until they were almost extinct.
As technology improved and demand for the seemingly vast resources remained high, far more whales were killed than were born. In the late 1930s more than 50,000 whales were killed each year. [2] By the middle of the 20th century, there were not enough whales and they were at risk of becoming extinct. In 1986, the International Whaling Commission introduced a moratorium on commercial whaling so that whales might recover.
This moratorium was successful, and whale stocks recovered. There is a debate about whaling in general. Countries which are in favor of whaling want to do away with the moratorium, so they can again hunt whales as they did before. Countries and environmental groups say that whaling is immoral and should be banned, and that stocks have not yet recovered sufficiently.