Australian Politics Forum - History of whaling in Australia

bogarde73

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History of whaling in Australia
Jan 22^nd, 2011 at 12:40pm

I find this incredibly ironic in the light of our jumping up & down about Japanese whaling. although as I've said many times, I find the killing of whales appalling.
Between 1820-1840, whaling was Australia's biggest industry, only being eclipsed after that by wool.
100's of whaling ships & boats were built in Hobart & Sydney. Sperm whales were hunted in the pacific and bay whales were hunted around the southern coasts and Tasmanian inlets. In addition provisioning was made available to large numbers of American whalers all the way from New England bases.
Millions of dollars worth of whale oil (used as pre-kerosene fuel for lamps) was shipped to England, not to mention scores of thousands of sealskins. Yep, we were pretty big in the clubbing slaughter of those pesky little critters too.
Puts it into perspective a bit. What goes around comes around (or is my vice versa)

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gizmo_2655

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Re: History of whaling in Australia
Reply #1 - Jan 22^nd, 2011 at 1:16pm

bogarde73 wrote on Jan 22^nd, 2011 at 12:40pm:

I find this incredibly ironic in the light of our jumping up & down about Japanese whaling. although as I've said many times, I find the killing of whales appalling.
Between 1820-1840, whaling was Australia's biggest industry, only being eclipsed after that by wool.
100's of whaling ships & boats were built in Hobart & Sydney. Sperm whales were hunted in the pacific and bay whales were hunted around the southern coasts and Tasmanian inlets. In addition provisioning was made available to large numbers of American whalers all the way from New England bases.
Millions of dollars worth of whale oil (used as pre-kerosene fuel for lamps) was shipped to England, not to mention scores of thousands of sealskins. Yep, we were pretty big in the clubbing slaughter of those pesky little critters too.
Puts it into perspective a bit. What goes around comes around (or is my vice versa)

Those are valid points Bogarde...
But they miss a couple of relevant points.....

Commerical whaling is currently under a moratorium (i.e suspended by International Agreement) and all the products that used to be aquired by whaling can now be produced cheaper and 'easier' by synthetic or alternative means..so it's somewhat unnecessary..

And the big points ( from my point of view at least) are why is it necessary to kill the whales 'for scientific research' into reproduction rates??? You can find out the same thing by standing on the shore (or in a boat) and counting them as they swim past every year...

And why is it necessary to sail across 3/4 quarters of the planet to catch them in Antarctica, when they spend half the year in northern waters, near Japan????

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Bobbythebat

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bogarde73 Gold Member Offline Anti-Global & Contra Mundum Posts: 18443 Gender:	Re: History of whaling in Australia Reply #2 - Jan 22^nd, 2011 at 3:07pm All I'm saying is: if you used to live in a glass house you better think before you throw stones.
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gizmo_2655 Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 16010 South West NSW Gender:	Re: History of whaling in Australia Reply #3 - Jan 22^nd, 2011 at 3:48pm bogarde73 wrote on Jan 22^nd, 2011 at 3:07pm: All I'm saying is: if you used to live in a glass house you better think before you throw stones. Granted...but we stopped whaling, in 1978, when the treaties were signed...
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freediver

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Re: History of whaling in Australia
Reply #4 - Jan 22^nd, 2011 at 4:27pm

We have recently acquired a taboo on whaling, so there is apparently nothing hypocritical about getting on our high horse and talking down to whalers. Especially the Japs. After all, we won the war.

Quote:

Commerical whaling is currently under a moratorium (i.e suspended by International Agreement) and all the products that used to be aquired by whaling can now be produced cheaper and 'easier' by synthetic or alternative means..so it's somewhat unnecessary..

Oh really gizmo? So you think we should burn fossil fuiels instead of renewable source? Can you explain how to manufacture 'articifical' whale meat? Honestly, the crap that the animal welfare lobby spews forth in their attempts to ban whaling completely is just mind boggling.

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Dnarever Gold Member Online Australian Politics Posts: 59483 Here Gender:	Re: History of whaling in Australia Reply #5 - Jan 22^nd, 2011 at 5:08pm bogarde73 wrote on Jan 22^nd, 2011 at 3:07pm: All I'm saying is: if you used to live in a glass house you better think before you throw stones. Its more a case of we moved into a brick house and started throwing rocks at the glass houses.
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freediver Gold Member Offline www.ozpolitic.com Posts: 49581 At my desk.	Re: History of whaling in Australia Reply #6 - Jan 22^nd, 2011 at 5:09pm Our moral high ground is actuall non-existant. Everyone else seems to realise this, except us.
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Dnarever Gold Member Online Australian Politics Posts: 59483 Here Gender:	Re: History of whaling in Australia Reply #7 - Jan 22^nd, 2011 at 5:46pm I understand the point but I would still rather see people aiming at the moral high ground then to be with those targeting the moral low ground.
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freediver Gold Member Offline www.ozpolitic.com Posts: 49581 At my desk.	Re: History of whaling in Australia Reply #8 - Jan 22^nd, 2011 at 7:26pm What is the moral high ground? I see no high ground in the hypocrisy of the anti-whaling mob.
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jame-e Senior Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 426 Darwin (currently) Gender:	Re: History of whaling in Australia Reply #9 - Jan 22^nd, 2011 at 9:39pm Morals... They are lacking greatly in Australia’s approach to this issue.
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gizmo_2655

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Re: History of whaling in Australia
Reply #10 - Jan 22^nd, 2011 at 10:01pm

freediver wrote on Jan 22^nd, 2011 at 4:27pm:

We have recently acquired a taboo on whaling, so there is apparently nothing hypocritical about getting on our high horse and talking down to whalers. Especially the Japs. After all, we won the war.

Quote:

Commerical whaling is currently under a moratorium (i.e suspended by International Agreement) and all the products that used to be aquired by whaling can now be produced cheaper and 'easier' by synthetic or alternative means..so it's somewhat unnecessary..

Oh really gizmo? So you think we should burn fossil fuiels instead of renewable source? Can you explain how to manufacture 'articifical' whale meat? Honestly, the crap that the animal welfare lobby spews forth in their attempts to ban whaling completely is just mind boggling.

Isn't beef, fish, chicken, pork etc an alternative to whale meat FD???
Even in Japan, most of the whale meat is used for pet food...Norway has a higher consumption rate for whale meat, but they hunt locally under the Indigenous( Aboriginal) whaling rules of the IWC.....

Ambergris has been replaced by synthetics, Whale oil has been replaced by Jojoba oil, which is considered a better substance.....and as for whale teeth and whale bone used in jewellery and corsetry...there are a great many alternative materials usable in scrimshaw carving....and how many women regulary wear corsets these days????

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Bobbythebat

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freediver

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Re: History of whaling in Australia
Reply #11 - Jan 22^nd, 2011 at 10:05pm

Quote:

Isn't beef, fish, chicken, pork etc an alternative to whale meat FD???

Yes. What's your point?

Quote:

Ambergris has been replaced by synthetics, Whale oil has been replaced by Jojoba oil, which is considered a better substance.....and as for whale teeth and whale bone used in jewellery and corsetry...there are a great many alternative materials usable in scrimshaw carving....and how many women regulary wear corsets these days????

What synthetic alternative to meat is there? Or is that what the question about chicken was for? Are you suggesting it is somehow more 'moral' to ban one type of meat because you can replace it with some other type of meat? If so, perhaps you should explain your reasoning. Hopefully it doesn't boil down to imposing your taboos on racially inferior groups.

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People who can't distinguish between etymology and entomology bug me in ways I cannot put into words.

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JC Denton Gold Member Offline Posts: 5471 Gender:	Re: History of whaling in Australia Reply #12 - Jan 22^nd, 2011 at 10:06pm Quote: . Hopefully it doesn't boil down to imposing your taboos on racially inferior groups. lmao You can cut the crap, Freediver. You know you can (and are) making great points without having to resort to silly emotive little snipes like that.
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gizmo_2655

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Re: History of whaling in Australia
Reply #13 - Jan 22^nd, 2011 at 10:08pm

freediver wrote on Jan 22^nd, 2011 at 10:05pm:

Quote:

Isn't beef, fish, chicken, pork etc an alternative to whale meat FD???

Yes. What's your point?

Quote:

Ambergris has been replaced by synthetics, Whale oil has been replaced by Jojoba oil, which is considered a better substance.....and as for whale teeth and whale bone used in jewellery and corsetry...there are a great many alternative materials usable in scrimshaw carving....and how many women regulary wear corsets these days????

What synthetic alternative to meat is there? Or is that what the question about chicken was for? Are you suggesting it is somehow more 'moral' to ban one type of meat because you can replace it with some other type of meat? If so, perhaps you should explain your reasoning. Hopefully it doesn't boil down to imposing your taboos on racially inferior groups.

No, I'm saying it's silly (and maybe immoral, but morals vary) to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars harvesting a meat source when no-one eats it and it ends up as dog food or in a freezer for decades (or even allowed to rot)....

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"I just get sick of people who place a label on someone else with their own definition.

It's similar to a strawman fallacy"
Bobbythebat

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freediver Gold Member Offline www.ozpolitic.com Posts: 49581 At my desk.	Re: History of whaling in Australia Reply #14 - Jan 22^nd, 2011 at 10:22pm So it is silly to feed our pets? Tell me gizmo, how much money do you think Australians spend on pet food? And you support whaling for human consumption?
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