Whaling

1) The rights of animals. I will take this into two prongs (I like the number two for some reason). a) Brain size in whales is actually very small. The average human adult is about 85 kg with a brain size of about 1.7 kg, giving it a mass to body weight ratio of 2.0% [1]. The gray whale weighs about 36 tonnes [2] with a brain size of about 3.4 kg. This gives it a 0.012% ratio (about 1/170 the size of a human's). The sperm whale (with the largest brain of any animal, and so almost cherry picked data) comes in at about 57 tonnes [4] with a brain size of about 9 kg [5] (some sources pointed to less like 7.5 kg, but better to over guess than to under guess). This gives it a ratio of only 0.016%. The blue whale comes in at around 180 tonnes [6] with a brain size of only 6 kg [7]. Giving it the lowest brain size ratio of whales at only 0.003%. The bottlenose dolphine weighs about 400 kg and has a brain size of 1.65 kg [8] (about the same size as us), and this brings it in at 0.4% ratio. This clearly shows that nothing has a similar brain to weight ratio as humans, and that whales, do not come close to the level of dolphins in that department (the closet is still less than 1/20 the ratio). b) Brain size, or ratio, is not what grants rights. Depending on one's philosophy, the three most common granters or rights are ability to develop rational and cognative thinking, human DNA, a religious doctrine. And none of those would qualify whales for rights. Regarding the way whalers kill whales, that is something that can be fixed through regulations, just like they do with cows and other livestock, requiring humane deaths. Placing limits on hunting times, hunting areas, and hunting methods are all things that we do with other animals that we hunt (deer, ducks, and dingos). Doing so allows us to continue hunting, while helping to preserve the species (not allowing it to be hunted to extinction) and be humane in their deaths. 2) Whale meat. While whale meat is not very tasty to many people, taste is highly subjective. Many people do not like sushi and think that it is disgusting, while others enjoy it very much. We also know that most people never eat caviar, nor shark, yet such things are often considered delicacies for those that can afford them/enjoy them. It is curious about the demand for whale meat. Obviously if people are not buying it, whalers would not be hunting it. While this may seem like something is up, I simply look at it and see that there is plenty of wiggle room to add restrictions, which would cut the number of whales killed, while not really effecting the actual consumed supply. Going on to the Mercury points, this is a very strong point, however, it should be understood about how dangerous mercury is and at what concentration levels. The LD50 for Mercury (dose amount that has a 50% chance of killing someone) is about 75mg/kg [9][10] meaning that an average person of 85kg can consume about 6.4 g of mercury before hitting the LD limit. This is largely because your body is not very good at absorbing Mercury through injestion [11]. Now whale meat comes in at about 100 ppm (making it the most mercury concentrated meat you can get, exotic). A simle serving is going to be around 120 grams (about 4 oz), so that one serving of whale meat would get you about 12 mg, 1/500 the amount needed to likely kill you. This is why the FDA does not have any restrictions on mercury for every day people, only for young children and pregrent mothers. Because mercury is believed to interfere with early brain development, but even that is questionable, because of conflicting studies (though oddly enough, the primary theory of why the studies differ is because of whale meat). [1] . http://faculty.washington.edu... [2] . http://en.wikipedia.org... [3] . http://www.learner.org... [4] . http://en.wikipedia.org... [5] . http://www.enchantedlearning.com... [6] . http://en.wikipedia.org... [7] . http://www.youramazingbrain.org.uk... [8] . http://en.wikipedia.org... [9] . http://msds.chem.ox.ac.uk... [10] . http://www.mycolleaguesareidiots.com... [11] . http://en.wikipedia.org...