Dear Future President,

Whaling should be stopped. I am against whaling because it is inhumane and cruel. Whales are smart gargantuan aquatic animals and are impressive species that doesn’t deserve to die or get killed because we don’t even need resources from them. Besides that, I do not support scientific research on them, it’s similar to killing people, they’re mammals just like us. In the future, I would love to see a live whale swimming to the ocean before they go extinct because I was touched by the story of killer whales whom committed suicide because of captivation. That behavior shows that they have feelings just like a person.There was also that famous, unidentified, lonely whale with a pitch frequency of 52-hertz that was unique than the other’s frequency and a song dedicated to it. I was inspired to know more about whales when I heard about the lonely whale from the song “Whalien52” by BTS.

Firstly, these creatures are amazing but their population is at risk. Whales are hunted and killed for it’s great amount of meat and scientific research. In the WhaleMan foundation, an article called “Save The Whales Again” states that, even after the ban of whaling in 1986, over 35,000 of whales were killed for profit. Japan, Norway, and Iceland has ignored the moratorium on commercial whaling and still do it up to this day. Many whales species have gone endangered due to human’s activities. Pollution, bombing, and captivation are threatening to them. In Save the Whales Organization, Thomas A. Jefferson reported the most endangered whales are:

Vaquita or Gulf of CA harbor porpoise (Phocoena sinus)

North Pacific right whale (Eubalaena japonica)

North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis)

South Asian River dolphin (Platanista gangetica)

Atlantic humpback dolphin (Sousa teuszii)

Hector’s dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori)

Chilean dolphin (Cephalorhynchus eutropia)

Franciscana (Pontoporia blainvillei)

Australian snubfin dolphin (Orcaella heinsohni)

Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis)

That list shows they are already many of them and could extend. Although not a single type of whale has gone extinct from whaling, they are still endangered and could possibly stop their existence in the future with these continual threats.

Secondly, this topic is an issue to the ecosystem. A species population has significance on the diversity. On the same subject matter, keystone species, meaning they play an important role in the ecosystem, like orcas or killer whales, are important because without them the ecosystem will collapse. Orcas are vital species since whales are mostly in the top food web, one of the influential species. If countries maintain extreme whaling, it’ll eventually show serious imbalance ecosystem. Orcas or killer whales are not endangered but they are vulnerable to their habitat because of the dangers created by human activities. Another issue is that orcas are being captured for entertainment because they are intelligent whales. The lack of spacious aquariums compared to the vast ocean makes them fall into depression and commit suicide. Also, it is not only the whales that are being affected, many animals are facing factors because of their polluted habitat originated by humans. We are the biggest threat to the biodiversity.

There’s many arguments on whaling’s pros and contras. The whalers claims that hunting for the whale’s meat won’t drive them to extinction. On the other side, statistics fluctuated down to 90% in some species. Their population doesn’t rebound easily because they only reproduce an offspring every two to three years. Another argument is that people think there are humane ways to whaling but there isn’t. It takes hours to kill a big mammal and one shot doesn’t simply kill them. Whalers use explosives that ends up detonating inside the whales and some countries believe that commercial whaling is beneficial and it prevents fish population decrease. What they’re forgetting is that there are many factors of declining fish stocks like overfishing, pollution and habitat loss.

I suggest that schools and programs educate people about the issues to raise awareness about the effects. Another solution is that the economy could start more whale watching business without captivating whales because it has shown good economic growth. Then, the United Nation should take a step against the countries that ignored the moratorium. Additionally, people should be encouraged to take action and contribute to environmental projects that needs to be funded. This would be impactful because it’s one of the major factors of animals being endangered and going to extinction.

In conclusion, species of whales should be as important as a person’s life. Whaling must stop before a severe environmental change happen to harm the animals. Not only whales but all species should be protected because I believe that humans are only a guest on this planet and we are destroying it.

Sincerely,

Jolin 

Grade 10

West Saint Paul, MN