Up to 2,500 whales are killed every year, many under the spurious guise of scientific research. Whatever the reason, the method used to kill whales is always cruel. What makes this all the more shocking is that, sadly, around a third of whales are pregnant when they’re killed.
Whalers use grenade harpoons designed to enter the flesh of the whale and then explode. The harpoon is fired from a cannon on the prow of the ship. Aimed by hand, it creates a hole in the whale’s body and then explodes, causing massive injury or death through laceration or trauma.
Often, the whale does not die instantly. Death can take anything from two minutes up to an hour. Then another grenade harpoon or rifle shots are used. If the first harpoon remains in the whale, the attached line serves to slow or hold it in place for this second attempt.
No government adequately reports how long it takes for a whale to die. The people we rely on for this information - and for the number of animals that are injured but not caught - are the whalers themselves. For this reason we expect a lack of accurate reporting on how whales die and that's exactly what we get.
© Jonas Fr. ThorsteinssonThe whalers also determine themselves if a whale is dead or not before they begin cutting it up. But whales are able to slow their breathing and heart rate for long periods underwater. This means whalers may decide a whale has no indications of life, that it is dead, when it is still very much alive.
I’ve heard these grim details so many times, but they still upset me. Nothing can be done to alleviate the suffering that whaling causes. There is no humane alternative; there is no cruelty free way to kill a whale. That’s why I believe that whaling has to end. That’s why I will be representing WSPA at the IWC next month. And that’s why I need your help to get this message across.
Please record your word today.
Emily Reeves, WSPA
You can help to Give Whales A Voice today! Together anything is possible.
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