You're right Perseus - next time there is a beached whale - once it dies we should whip out the barbies and start cutting off fillets.

Bring an esky, a cricket bat and tennis ball and we can celebrate the life of the whale by making sure it's body doesn't go to waste.

Ladies, bring a salad.

On a serious note, don't these animal rights activists realise that if humans like eating an animal, it guarantees there will be large numbers.

Do you honestly think sheep or cattle would be so abundant across the world if we didn't eat them. Eating them ensures there survival.

Similar with kangaroos, the aboriginals used to burn thicker forests to create open woodland - like a big kangaroo farm - which ensured there were enough roos to go round.

PS Kanga kebabs marinated in garlic, olive oil and a bit of paprika are fantastic when cooked on the barbie. High in protein too for all those Atkins fans

t.u.s.

Perseus, I had no idea Aborigine’s traditionally ate beached whale? Is that true?

The the usual suspect, YES! I couldn’t agree more. But are there any health risks associated with eating beached whale? I take it, its still fresh?

What happens after the whales have died? If they have only recently died, are they still ok to eat??

:S

Wrighta, I imagine it would stay fresh for a few hours at the least. The Beach Barbecuers would just have to get down there as quick as the Greenpeacers when a whale takes a sandy holiday.

But instead of pouring water on the beast to keep it alive, we can use marinate - soy and honey works well on whale I hear.

t.u.s

It is interesting mind set, isn't it Wrighta, that we can assume that an intelligent, resourceful and well informed people who are keen observers of their surroundings, and who obtained food from such a broad range of sources and species, but who sometimes went hungry, have somehow been incapable of recognising and utilising a good feed of whale when it presented itself in the beach. Fat chance.

The feast would have lasted a lot longer than a few hours as the exposed meat would have been continually washed by the waves. Bacteria would generally form on the exposed meat but if this exposed portion is being continually removed (like cutting slices of a leg of ham) then the rate of decay is significantly reduced.

Obviously, decay would be faster in mid-summer but salt water is well recognised as a pretty good preservative. Can anyone seriously believe a lean bunch of blackfellas in a hard winter would rather just sit around on a midden eating Pippies?

No wonder Ian Campbell our Minister for the Environment does not want to raise the spectre of the commercial kangaroo killing industry which profits a small band of private profiteers. They make a killing in selling flesh and skin from our so called protected, native wildlife.
Has Jennifer Marohasy a vested interest in pushing this unsustainable, unclean, ungreen national disgrace? The Australian government is the only one in the world which permits large scale cruelty to animals. When a mother kangaroo is spot blinded and shot she usually has an in pouch joey attached to her nipple. That joey is pulled off and (according to the Code of Practice) either bashed to death with a metal pipe or beaten against the shooter's truck, or has its throat cut. Meanwhile, the at foot joey which depends on its mother for its survival (she has another nipple which feeds that joey with different type of milk) hops away in terror and is then abandoned to die a cruel death of starvation, thirst, exposure or predation. 4.5 million kangaroo young-at-foot were left to a cruel death in the last decade. If you support the push to eat kangaroo meat or use ADIDAS shoes some of which are made from kangaroo skin then be aware that you are part of this disgusting cruelty. Enjoy and Bon Apetit.

Really, Raindrop. And when can we expect you to show up at the onset of the next drought to pay for and assist with your share of the suplemental feeding of all those unculled roos who will die such a desperate death that they rip the last vestiges of grass out by the roots before doing so?

Until you do, you are just another urban day tripper, scoring cheap thrills from moralistic platitudes while remaining carefully insulated from the dreadful consequences of your ignorance. But don't worry, just flick the channel and graze contentedly on something a bit more self affirming. Check out the fashions, you don't even have to go outside.