This issue of beached whales has and been for some time now, quite an issue in South Africa, there has been an ever increasing number of whales washing up on their beaches, dead or alive, in most cases alive and cannot think as to why the people over there take the first option that comes to mind, that being, to pump the poor mammal full of TNT and blow the thing to hell! I am at a loss here, I have seen and been part of actually towing the (live whale) back to the ocean.
All I see here is providing food for seagulls and other beach scavengers, apart from getting hit with pieces of flying blubber most weighing in at over 20kg!
Spanky

Seems the most cost effective waf.

Can I suggest those who refuse to be saved be sliced and auctioned off for the bbq? Proceeds to whale research? Mammalicious morsels?

Sell them to the Japanese? For research purposes, naturally.

If they are still alive they should be harvested, provided there isn't some health risk involved. As far as I know most whales beach themselves because they are dying. If you tow them out to see you just feed the predators that the whales would prefer not to have following them around in calving season. Either that or they just beach themselves again and again till they find a nice secluded spot where they can die in peace without people trying to 'help' them.

Why we should allow whaling:

http://ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1168478179/36#36

freediver,
The issue of whaling is something I abhore and will petition this action till the day I leave this earth. You say not to tow the whales back to the ocean once beached? It is a known fact that one would not tow an injured whale back to the ocean, no, they would iether do the humane thing like euthenise the whale or get some local yob to stuff the still live whale with explosives, the latter being too disgusting to elaborate on.
Spanky

Spanky, not that I support exploding whales, but its still probably kinder than nature's solution. People forget that mother nature is not a nice beast. Natures solution would be either death by starvation of death by crushing (which is common for whales out of water for too long, or so I am lead to believe).

When it comes down to it, don't most of us want to go out with a bang?

Hey Guys n' Gals,
What say we "cull the whale and roo" story and move on to something new.....Seen any aliens lately?
Spanky

I think the TNT thing might be more to help move the carcass, which is much easier in small pieces. They would kill the whale first. They would want to get the bit out that they use for perfume before blowing it up.

And that little thing for perfume comes from where?
Spanky

Spanky,
If it's a sperm whale the "little bit" is called ambergris and will be in the stomach or intestines. It's a grey waxy blob thought to protect the stomach lining from sharp objects in the whales diet.
At $10 per gram it would be worth looking for.

Rojo, well so the old saying goes.."save the whales.. Harpoon a fat chick!
Interesting piece of information, thanks now all I have to do is carefully read the label on bottles of perfume I buy for my wife and casually tell her this stuff came out of a Sperm whale, hence the reason it cost an arm and a leg!
Spanky

Sadly, the comedians on this thread are unable to grasp the consequences to whales and other marine animals, of man-made ocean pollution.

Beached whales are on the increase.

Tasmania's strandings have increased to some 30 a year, up from 5 in the 80's.

Tasmania is at the forefront of successfully saving whales by the innovative use of nets and jet boats, though a somewhat risky strategy, it appears to be working reasonably well.

I recall the media release on a beached whale, stranded in Queensland, where an autopsy revealed that the whale's stomach contents consisted entirely of plastic bags. There was no food in the stomach.

Scientists also suspect military sonar exercises and man-made magnetic fields which are detrimental to the survival of the whale.

The Inuits of Greenland, dependent on marine mammals for their diet, are now purported to have the highest rate of cancers of any indigenous group.

Doctors claim this is a result of the large marine animals ingestion of man-made dioxins and other trans-boundary pollutants which enter the entire food chain.

For the comedians who suggest the barbecuing of beached whales.....I can only say, Karma is a wonderful lesson for the ill-informed!

And we humans are already reaping what we have sown!

"Beached whales are on the increase."

Do you have any evidence for this?

1. International Whaling Commission's report on stranded whales.

2. scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=226&id=410042007

3 www.earthdive.com/site/news/newsdetail.asp?id=1900

Perhaps you could perform your own research in the future, freediver? It is very easy to find.

Is there anything interesting in those reports?

Yes there is Freediver. Particularly for your type, who like to slaughter everything that moves.

Fish are now heavily polluted with all sorts of contaminants. The bigger the fish, the larger the risk for humans who feast on these creatures.

A few of the dangerous pollutants include heavy metals, PCB's and dioxins. Many of these are known or probable carcinogens.

Others are endocrine disruptors with detrimental hormonal effects, decreasing testosterone levels and altered sex ratios in embryos (increasing feminine traits in males), following prenatal exposure to dioxins.

Ever seen the graphics of the deformed children in Vietnam, Freediver? A result of dioxins (agent orange), where children, some 42 years after the war are presenting with hideous physical deformities. Yum, fish and our waterways are full of this contaminant which likes to bioaccumulate!

Scandanavian health officials have warned for years against pregnant women or children under 8, eating any fish in those waters.

Of course, small fish have fewer pollutants due to their diminished feeding quantities. However, the herring in Esperance WA were dangerously contaminated after the industrial lead spill recently and the health department issued a media warning not to fish in those waters.

The Japanese, have one of the highest rates of stomach cancer in the world.

Ah yes, Karma........imparting her wisdom to those who like to rape, pillage and poison with gusto!