"The Cove" discussion

[mercyseverity]

Hello everyone.
I'm new here but I have been a long time lurker and fan.

I'm wanted to see if anyone here has heard of the film "the cove" Here is the trailer: YouTube - The Cove Trailer and here is the website: The Cove Movie: Welcome

I went and saw this film and was quite shaken up. I knew the Japaneses were hunting whales but I had no idea they did it under such circumstances. I love Japanese culture and the country is beautiful but I do not support this aspect. I was on an exchange in japan several years ago and from my understanding the majority of Japanese people had no idea about this and it seems eating whale is fairly rare.

They have baned the film from Japan (obviously) but I think it needs to be shown just so the people can be informed and make up their own opinion on this issue instead of being in the dark. Thats the thing I do not think most Japaneses people realize how unhealthy and TOXIC dolphin and whale meat is. If fact I think it is marketed as being "healthy".

The end of the film makes it very clear that something should be done about it but what? I know most of you here are against Sea Shepard but at least they are trying. it is mostly a UN issue since they whale in a UN designated sanctuary but the UN has no real police force to enforce their laws. I feel so very removed from the issue because it is happening so far away.

I eventually want to take a vacation in Japan, and at first I was thinking I could make some flyers to post on the streets, but this is sort of a horrible thing to do on a vacation in a country that is not my own. So what would you people suggest?

I urge everyone to see this movie it is fantastic and eye opening. It is not against the Japanese themselves as most people think but is against the whalers and the companies that support the whale and dolphin meat industry.

Many argue that is like the beef industry here, but I disagree. Until the Japanese figure out a way to FARM dolphins and whales I'll shut up, but cows were bred and raised specifically for human consumption and are not wild and part of a natural ecosystem whereas dolphins are.
There are laws here that say the cows must be stunned or unconscious before being killed. Those whales and dolphins usually die from choking on their own blood before dieing of the harpoon.

bahh anyways I'll shutup now. I just could use some advice and hopefully start a civil discussion.

[randomdiscussionblog]

Japan's food security is compromised by its dependence on foreign food import. This is the reason why they want to "exploit" the so-called "loophole".

[mercyseverity]

Then why don't they address that issue properly and cite that as one of their reasons? I'm sorry I don't really see the connection. Surely their are other resources to "exploit" then whales. Why don't they develop ways of farming dolphins instead of continuing to kill them in the wild (like with the Dall's porpoise they are being killed unsustainably) Maybe I'm not understanding your argument but the matter still remains that the meat of dolphins is practically poisonous and whale meat isn't much better.
Also I'm curious what will happen if other pro-whaling nations follow Japan's scientific research idea and all have similar quotas. Then the overall number of will be unsustainable and it will be right back to commercial whaling and near extinction for the cetaceans. Japan isn't the only country with food security problems I'm sure.

[MMM]

The Cove is different from whaling, and I thought it deserved its own thread.

[burkhartdesu]

The same exact thing happens in Denmark every year.


Isn't it weird that they're focusing so much on the Japanese, when this sort of 'massacre' is happening in all countries?


Could this be media-racism? It's seems like it would be easier for Americans to get all worked up over the Japanese whaling, but they neglect to mention the country with a white population.

I haven't seen the movie, but I'm assuming they don't mention whaling politics in other countries.

[Tenchu]

Originally Posted by burkhartdesu

Isn't it weird that they're focusing so much on the Japanese, when this sort of 'massacre' is happening in all countries?

This doesn't happen in all countries. Only a few do whaling.

Anyway, the OP has my support. We should leave the sea almost entirly alone, I think. The world is too populated to commercially fish the ocean. All fish stocks are drying up. Whales only still exist thanks to those anti-whaling nations.

[mercyseverity]

I think what they do in Denmark is horrible! The Faroe islanders are very well known to Sea shepherd as they have protested them before. The thing is they kill a very small amount compared to japan (hundreds versus thousands)and they do not do it commercially. All the meat is divided among all the people on the islands.
Also on wikipedia it states that they will be hunting less as the chief medical officer of the islands put out a warning saying that the meat is not fit for human consumption.
I really do not believe it is racist, but Japan just happens to be the main offender.
All other cetacean hunting in other countries is small scale (mainly in island nations) All other commercial hunting has stopped. It was told to me by someone that perhaps it is the Japanese whalers who think they are better that they are exempt from the whaling moratorium.

[burkhartdesu]

Originally Posted by Tenchu

This doesn't happen in all countries. Only a few do whaling.

I'm not talking about whaling specifically -- look at the livestock massacres that occur in the Western world on a daily basis.


LiveLeak.com - Cow Massacre in USA (EXTREMELY GRAPHIC)



And mercyseverity:

That clears up a lot... I have only briefly heard of the Denmark dolphin killings, and google'd a picture. I should have wikipedia'd it!

[Tenchu]

Oh. I think the difference is no problem is with eating bovine, because we grew them ourselves, they're not wild.

Of course, killing in a fucked up way is fucked up. That needs to be stopped.

[burkhartdesu]

Now the real question is:


What's more f***d up?


Hunting them wild -- or growing them in a laboratory?