The Environment: Is it really that bad?

[safewalrus]

Longliner - apart from the fact that apparantly parts of them are good to eat they have quite a few uses as any whaling community will tell you (tis a rumour that the American Whalers where some of the best in the world before someone invented a harpoon gun which decimated the whales - if we went back to using hand held harpoons in pulling (rowing) boats I think there would be enough to go round - guns is just to damn comprehensive!

Oh yes, and of course they do have something for the 'do gooders' of the world to whinge about - not that most of them know bugger all about whales, but they do like to cause trouble (wait until one surfaces alongside you and blows when you are in a 30 foot boat - **** myself did I; you bet)

[Raggi_Thor]

Whales where hunted for their fat originally, and something called "ambrosia"??? It was used to make perfume (??), strange because the fat from whales smells quite disgusting.

AMBERGIS, it's called....
From http://www.savethewhales.org/sperm.html:
Ambergris is a valuable substance found in the lower intestine of a small percentage of sperm whales and is believed to form around squid beaks. This waxy substance, which is lighter than water and floats, was primarily used as a perfume fixative


Now the meat is a "deli" in Norway, Iceland and Japan.
There is no need for it, in the same way there is no need for meat from deer or moose.
Iceland just started hunting whales again after only doing "research" hunting for some years.

I have no strong feelings in this subject, I don't think it's OK to hunt scarce populations of any kind, I think all animals, domestic and wild should e treated with respect, and I think it's sad to kill a young lamb and a baby seal.