Should the whales be saved?

Assuming they're not, would that make it okay to hunt them to extinction?

The Japanese have been lying about their "scientific research" to hunt whale meat for decades.

Autumnleaf said:

I don't know about extinction. The argument for killing them in The Cove is they eat lots of fish that fisheries would have people buy and eat. ie People more important than whales argument. There was a bit in there about Japanese nationalism but that might be nonsense.

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If fish populations are down, that is because of human activity. The solution should be to reduce human consumption of fish, not kill off other predators that are trying to eat the few fish that are left.

Autumnleaf said:

I just watched The Cove and realized there might be something to saving the whales. They might be self aware and as intelligent as people.

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You should watch Blackfish. It used to be on Netflix, not sure about now.

Strathos said:

Assuming they're not, would that make it okay to hunt them to extinction?

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This is a good point. I think biodiversity is something of value in of itself.

I think dolphins are different (but similar) to whales.

I definitely think dolphins are self aware, and comparable to human children (or some mentally disabled adults). So killing them would probably be morally the same as murder.

Whales might be similar, but I don't know enough about them.

So I'd say, definitely save the dolphins, and probably save the whales.

I have this friend who really hates whales. But he really loves krill.

"Don't kill the whale...Don't hunt the whale" - Jon Anderson

Let's kill off anything worth calling a animal in the common man's usage and live off food grown in yeast tanks.

After all that way we can crowd even more humans on this globe.

Not that such a life seems worth living.

GoldenBoy89 said:

If fish populations are down, that is because of human activity. The solution should be to reduce human consumption of fish, not kill off other predators that are trying to eat the few fish that are left.

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^this!

How can whales possibly be saved if they have no souls?

I'm convinced. I'm going to start preaching to whales, wherever I find them.

cerad said:

How can whales possibly be saved if they have no souls?

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Isaiah 11 and Romans 8 - not eternal salvation but the healing and repairing of the world.

Strathos said:

The Japanese have been lying about their "scientific research" to hunt whale meat for decades.

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Wrong, they are doing very serious research to see if whale meat is tasty.

Seriously it is time for the Japanese to retire their whaling fleet. I do sometimes watch Whale Wars, but the attitude of the anti-whalers eventually started to change my attitude to one of supporting the Japanese. Your allies will not always be people that you want to associate with.

keith99 said:

Let's kill off anything worth calling a animal in the common man's usage and live off food grown in yeast tanks.

After all that way we can crowd even more humans on this globe.

Not that such a life seems worth living.

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I am a big time meat eater and know that sooner or later we must have some sort of population control, sooner better than later. But whales seem like they may be intelligent and for me that is a bit too much. Though I did have whale once. I was at my favorite sushi bar and the chef slipped me some gratis. I did not ask for it. I did not even know what it was, until after I ate it. Think fishy beef. I did not get physically ill or anything dramatic like that, but it did put me off a bit. And as a massive sushi eater that is saying something.