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Photographer Luke Duggleby captured stunning and startling images of the centuries-old tradition of whaling in Indonesia.
At a May 2009 World Oceans Conference, the Indonesian government officially declared 3.5 million hectares of critical marine habitat in the Savu Sea for conservation. Though government representatives have assured that traditional whaling -- which has been supporting the surrounding communities means of living -- will not be banned in the area immediately outside the zone, concerns still remain. Lamalera is one of the last remaining Indonesian whaling communities and is categorized by the International Whaling Commission as aboriginal whaling.
What do you think of whaling generally, and specifically traditional whaling methods like this?
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I've been asking for YEARS for a shark pic. And this is the one you choose?
Rhincodon typus...in case you were wondering. Ovoviviparous.
Indigenous whale hunters should be left alone. The whales, sharks and other species they harvest are are consumed, traded for other food staples and seems to be the cornerstone of their economy. Not allowing this way of life can create a society dependent on government hand outs and there may not be any other way for these folks to make a living. Leave them be.
i agree with what you say.
I agree with Codger64. I am an American. What business do we have telling other Nation what to do or how to live their lives. Please leave them alone. This whaling stuff is critical to their survival and it is their way of live. We eat beef in America. There are some tribes who see this as distastful.
yep, why do they go after the little guys who kills so little just to sustain life. How about the Japanese and the Russians and anyone else who mass kills whales, dolphins, seals, etc? When will that be stopped? somebody! get some cajones!!!
As much as I despise commercial whaling, TRUE indigenous or aboriginal whaling should be allowed with some verification by outside entities.
These people should not be denied their traditional ways of life. These whales fed an entire community. What will they do, now?
Evolve. That is what they should do now...
I agree. They have an ocean of choices. Think of the changes we've had to make in the last 200 years. Tradition should not triumph over extinction.
What would you say to crazy New Zealanders and those Sea Sheperd crews who endangered Japanese who were fulfilling their duties as JP Ship for whaling?
Japanese Govt mentioned that whaling which they enganged was not violating any laws.
Peter Bethune is on trial now, will be sentenced to min two years in prison for his terrorist attack of JP ship and crews.
Japanese whalers are raping the sea and are the real terrorists, of the ocean! The captain of the Japanese security boat that wrecked the Adygil should be on trial with the rest of the whaling fleet. Obviously no "Research" is being done. This is just wealthy Japanese thumbing their nose at the international law so they can have a piece of humpback sushi. The Japanese should be made to stop!! People who would kill these beautiful mammals to eat them or defend the monsters who do, are nothing more than human feces without morals or a soul. The Japanese whaling industry, whale meat consumers, and bed fellows should die a similar fate as the one they inflict upon the whales. Kudos to the heroes known as the Sea Shepards! Mr Bethune has become a martyr!!
Whaling should be a thing of the past. Hooray for the people who fight for whales, sharks and dolphins!
The next step should be an elimination of sea life used for pet food and meaningful management of our resources. Clean up the oceans before it is too late.
I completely agree! Whaling needs to be stopped. The Japanese are not killing whales for research as they claim. Who needs to kill hundreds of whales for research? Lame excuse.
People need to enjoy animals, especially ones who can't defend themselves.
Brittany and Mark, so you eat absolutely zero meat or wear nothing that comes from animals? Or are you going to exclude the ones you use and tell everybody else what they can and can not use? Actually, you can't go without using at least something that comes from an animal. Hypocrites. How little people like you know or care how you are actually hurting nature with many of your actions.
Killing whales and dolphins should be a crime on par with murdering a human. These are the most intelligent animals on the planet, we should be learning to communicate with them.
I would love to see the end of harvesting our ocean's mammals permanently. Unfortunately I doubt it will happen in my lifetime. If we aren't killing them for food, money, etc. we are capturing them for our amusement. We should be ashamed.
It's same as killing cattle over here just for our amusement?
Leave them alone unless they decide to hunt whales for commercial purposes, sell to Japan, etc.
How barbaric. Where are the guardians of the sea (aka Greenpeace)? These awesome, intelligent, gentle sea creatures deserve to be left alone in peace, free from the fear of having an exploding harpoon shot into them. Think of what we could learn from them if we could just spend a trillion dollars to develop a means of communication. They've been around for billions of years ... surely they are far more intelligent and loving spirits than are we humans.
Oh, the Indonesians hunt them for food and to support their families? Since when are human beings more important than whales, dolphins and sharks?
This is a crisis of the first oder and needs a fitting response ... like a tax increase, seizure of the international tuna fishing industry by the U.S. government, and a pathway to citizenship (complete with a couple hundred billion in handouts) and voting rights for Indonesians.
Or maybe we should mind our own business, solve our problems first, and allow people to in other parts of the world to manage their own affairs. What a novel concept. It'll never fly.
I'm sure everyone has a trillion dollars to throw around to develop a means of communication. What the hell is internet, mail, letter, phones, walk-talkies, tvs, etc used for anyways? Not communications.
I say ban cattle too. They have feelings too. Who cares if potential millions of people will starve because of it. I guess you have no clue on human evolution. Your body needs proteins in order to survive. And eating just plants and soy is not enough.
This type of whaling or sharking or whatever is fine. It isn't in excess. It is for survival.
SJ ~ What the Japanese do is most definitely illegal. They slaughter hundreds and you and I both know that it isn't just for research. It is to satisfy a bunch of superstitions and desires. All the JP's did was find a loop hole where by they can continue the commercial hunting of these sea creatures.
Mark ~ Using sea life for pet food is fine. It isn't hurting any ecosystems
Leave them alone unless they start selling whale meat commercially, especially to Japan.
the japanese have no respect for nature .. everything is about mass consumption and profit..
and on top of that they are cruel and believe in all these miracle medecine and are ready to kill anything close to extinction .. these indonesians are in touch with nature and im sure respect the animal kingdom
Why, that almost sounds like racism. Not to me, but I'm sure there are plenty who would disagree with me on that.
Sounds like us (Americans) too. Take a hard good look at Walmart, strip malls, wallstreet and the Gulf.
the japanese, americans, europeans, chinese, and rest of humankind have no respect for nature .. everything is about mass consumption and profit.. Our American society worships mass consumption and profit.
Your above post sounds racist.
to you its racist .. not to me .. its a fact , japanese and other asian countries have no respect for the animal kingdom.. dolphins , whales , sharks ( 100 million a year just for fin soup !!) , tigers , dogs and cats being skinned alive in china !!!!! do some research .. and if you still want to call me racist .. i really dont care .. asia kills and eat everything that walk swim fly or crawl !!! watch this video if you think im a racist !! japanese bastards !!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t78USiqiaUo
What about Americans eh?
We have cattle and chickens in the worst conditions squeezed warehouses where they can barely move around. Feeding cattle with processed dead cattle to fatten them up, pumping them with steriods and antibiotics. Yup we treat our food supply with respect. US also hunts shark too. And for the whales and dolphins? We just kill them with massive chemicals from pesticides and oil spills.
We ruin vast amounts of land for our tasty steriod/antibiotic filled animals. Overfishing our coasts then letting corporations dump harsh chemicals into the water without any punishment. And of course, visiting those local game resorts. You know where you can just drive up to an animal and shoot them without any effort.
Every region has nasty foods.
Look at France with their snails and Corsican cheese (rotting cheese with maggots).
Or even us drinking Kopi Luwak coffee. Beans come from animal poo.
Then again, keep trying to talk yourself out of it, more you speak, the more you sound like a racist.
has nothing to do with nasty food idiot !!! has to do with being cruel !!!!! dragging the dolphins alive and cutting their throat .. and let them die slowly .. and dolphins are very close to humans !!!! its not like a snail or chicken ..
brainless F ...$^#%$#ing idiot !!! just watch !!! f...japanese cold blooded people !!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t78USiqiaUo
The reason why the whales are endangered is because the West hunted to the brink of extinction the last two centuries, not the Indonesians or the Japanese. It kinda does not make any sense when you have killed off most of the whales and then now say that others are immoral to do such a thing. Leave them alone if they are doing it in a sustainable way! Yes, humans are more precious than animals because we rule the world.
What these people do is hunt to survive. They eat to live. They do not kill to make a profit. There is nothing wrong with what the Indonesian people or other tribes in the world do.
These people look like they are starving to death. Leave them alone.
all these people that have responded negativly most likely have a olivegarden or a fast food chain near by so when they need something they can go get it . These native people that are fishing for whales and things in that nature . are doing it so that there family and other families can eat today.Did anyone I repeat anyone see the boat they are using it is not a japanese whaling boat it is a hand made in there communities boat.they are harponing it by hand no mechanical things on board. these are not the people that are putting these animals into extiction. It is the large comercial companies that are doing it to sell the meat not to eat it themselves.leave these people and there way of life alone If everyone lived the way these peple are living and that is simple but very complexed way of life and very proud and family orientated if you can say that about yourself then talk about all the things someone shouldn't do .I bet they don't have a couple thousand foot high landfill in there back yard cause they mostlikely use every thing that they take from the planet Unless you live by everything that is made in your yard then what ever you use . is mostlikely killed or ruins the environment to make what you have . that all im going to say
Seashepherd is fighting hard to stop the illegal harvesting whales in sanctuaries. The Japanese say "oh it's for research" - liars ! The only research is to choose how to serve them to a population that rapes the world seas of everything that swims for their personal consumption.
Shame on the Japanese, and shame on any society that supports such atrocities which includes Norway, Iceland and yes so called native populations that claim it's their heritage
Hurray for the brave people of the SeaSheprhed Society !
Must agree with most of the posts. These people are hunting to survive. The Japanese 'research' includes the sale of whale meat to restaurants. You don't do research on whales by eating them.
Traditions such as the indonesians and likewise for the Inuits and Eskimos, should be left alone. The factory ships with their exploding tip harpoons and mass processing factory boats so they can market quantities for worldwide consumption should be banned completely. The traditional methods are for survival and are of a much smaller scale. The modern whaling ships are made for mass kills. These are a sign of our excesses and greed. Whale meat should only be allowed to be traded locally and not internationally. A landlocked nation that do not eat traditional whale meat do not need to import the product. Japan nor any country should be allowed to export whale meat for profit either. Keep it local and that way we can maintain the balance with nature. Whales have no chance against these modern armada of whaling ships. There is nowhere to run nor hide.
'Civilized' modern civilization, has a track record of depriving traditional civilizations of their livelihood and then leaving emptiness. This leads to depression and social breakdown of these peoples and decreases humanity's diversity. There are numerous examples that could be sited, however, one in the Indopacific region is the indigenous peoples of the Bikini Atoll, a particularly egregious example. How many 'civilized' people even know the fate of this unique group of human diversity?
everyone who thinks that kind of whaling should be banned, you are all idiots, you try living out there and surviving, that is there way of life and they should all be left alone, why dont you guys go write your comments to bp and tell them how to fix the problem in the gulf since you are so smart and have so much to say.
Whales are highly intelligent and emotional animals. Condoning whale slaughters on a cultural-relativistic, "way of life" basis is every bit as flawed as condoning genital mutilation and child marriages in Africa. It should be viewed in moral absolute terms and rejected. They can find other ways to feed themselves besides eating whales. This isn't a hunter/gatherer planet any more.
I think those terrorist morons on animal planet should run them over with their big boats.
A moron like you!
I watch Whale Wars on Animal Planet and I'm absolutely appalled at the brutality of the Japanese Whaling Ships and the tactics and excusesthey hide behind for their own profit and consumption. Also. I've seen what the Japanese have been doing to the Dolphins. Is there nothing that can stop this destruction of beautiful creatures that swim our oceans? We all need to step up and stop this unlawful practie before they all become extint!!!
The reason why the whales are endangered is because the West hunted to the brink of extinction the last two centuries, not the Indonesians or the Japanese. It kinda does not make any sense when you have killed off most of the whales and then now say that others are immoral to do such a thing. Leave them alone if they are doing it in a sustainable way! Yes, humans are more precious than animals because we rule the world.
I agree, that these people live this way of life , and should be left alone. They are not using it for resale reasons, but using it for subsistance.