I’m not going to defend whale hunting on this blog. But neither am I going to support it. Personally, I would love a world in which whales were not hunted, but I’m not blind to how important whaling is in Greenland and to the majority of Greenlanders. It is also very different to the supposedly scientific whaling carried out by other countries for the sake of research.
Hmm, as Maratse would say.
However, if you’re interested in the Arctic you’re going to come across whaling in the history books, museums, in daily life, and when walking your dog on the sea ice.
I’ve mentioned the tiny lump of rock I dubbed Whale Island in an earlier blog. Well, this is why. when Nansen and I visited the island, he was spoiled for choice, grabbing one bone, before dropping it for a bigger one, only to find an even bigger one a few steps later.
I told him he couldn’t bring them home.
So he rolled in something instead! Perfect!
Chris
And you thought you were the boss!🤣🤣
If the people that kill whales to live/survive….not a problem. As you say,when ‘scientific research ‘ rears its ugly head,that’s a different thing altogether. If the whaling slaughter over the last two centuries hadn’t happened,would we be able to cope with the oceans chockabloc full of whales?
Ooooh i think so!!🤣
Hi Graham. Yep, “we” basically emptied the sea of whales. And yes, we would definitely cope with oceans chockabloc with whales! 🙂 I did see a lot of waste when some whales were not “used” in Greenland, i.e. there is another side to the romantic “hunters use every inch of the whale” view. But generally the meat was eaten, the skin and blubber too – mattak, bones were carved into jewellery and souvenirs, teeth (narwhal) were sold, and the dogs got the rest. When you look at the mass killing of cows and the rainforest cleared to grow food to feed ’em, etc… yeah, people tend to forget that when visiting McDonalds!
What…that vegetarian fast food chain?!🤣🤣