Canada Ignores Rescue Option, Kills 500 Endangered Narwhals
The Canadian government opted last week to allow the killing 500 narwhals trapped beneath ice rather than calling in icebreakers to free the animals, claiming the process would have been too stressful for the whales.
Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and star of Animal Planet’s Whale Wars, wrote a lengthy condemnation of the Canadian government’s decision. He noted that the government provides millions to fund ice-breaking for the annual baby seal hunt, but rejected the idea when proposed in order to save the whales.
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Canada allowed Inuit hunters to shoot the whales as they swam one-by-one to the one hole in the ice where they could come up for air. If minimizing stress was the goal, they miserably failed.
Watson believes the decision was made purely for economic reasons: breaking ice costs money, while killing narwhals makes money.
“Where Canada could have delivered the gift of life, they have instead unleashed a torrent of violence that has spewed the hottest of blood into the frigid seas of the high north,” wrote Watson, who is a Canadian citizen.
“Narwhal tusks sell for thousands of dollars and this bonanza was 4 times [the Inuits’] allowed ‘legal’ kill. This was an opportunity to put hundreds of valuable ‘unicorn horns’ on the market and to bring hundreds of thousands of dollars into the economy of the far North,” he continued. “Every Canadian should hang their head in shame at this atrocious environmental crime.”
Correction: Narwhals are in fact merely a threatened species, not endangered. However, there appear to be around 45,000 still in existence, meaning this killing spree wiped out a large chunk of the population. Narwhals also happen to be considered the animal most threatened by climate change, even more so than polar bears. It is also worth noting that the number of narwhals killed in this incident is actually now approaching 600.
Photo Credit: Glenn Williams on WikiMedia Commons under Creative Commons license.
Angelica: re: boycott all Canadian products
You can do it, but you’ll need more punctuation!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is EXACTLY why we need to push the conservative government out of control. Go for the coalition!
Seems like Canada is no better than China when it comes to the animals. I’m embarrassed to share a continent.
They have fucking swords on their heads, kill them before they kill us
It’s ridiculous that individuals would spend thousands of dollars to save their cats and dogs from tumors or other problems that require expensive surgeries. It is OK, because the poor animals belong to them. Who do the Norwahls belong to that we just sentence them to death, no one? Or is it of a less natural cause that they got trapped. If mankind is already killing thousands of animals in slaughterhouses to feed on, why do we need to allow for more killing if there was a way to save them. The icebreaker could have been loaded up with beef steaks instead and bring them over to the folks up north and save the whales on the way.
Why not?
y adn how could so 1 do that to enderad spice they suck there isots
If humans led the narwhals to the ice where they would be trapped, then I would side with your cause. However, believing that we have the moral obligation to save a bunch of whales who accidentally got themselves trapped is ridiculous. There is a thin line between being eco-friendly, and being an eco-snob. We do have a duty to the environment. We do not have the duty to intervene with nature. And on a side note, assuming 700 narwhals died, it only accounts for 1.6% of the population that was doomed to die. A large chunk for you maybe, but not for some.
LOLatcanada….because of a stupid decision on the part of the government, does not mean the majority of canadians support this!!!! It disgusts a great many of us, do not judge us by our government decisions, they are not MINE
I love the mentality of some folks.
“they were gunna die anyway”, “thats life, cows die too. get on with it”
You demean others posts, where they show empathy and caring, and strong moral values.
Two wrongs dont make a right, and im glad your self serving attitudes are a minority.
How sad you are…
Canada spends millions on ice breakers so the sealers can slaughter seals.
But cant justify the money to save something.
Its an indicator of the canadian governments priorities, and obviously profit wins over the environment and threatened species.
How sad.
I understand what you all are saying, but what are you proposing? More nuclear plants? I understand that wind power can create a lot of power, and would like to see it implemented, but please don’t forget about the risks of nuclear power plants. What will future generations do with all this nuclear waste that we are disposing of that is suppose to be safe? Will they love us or hate us for getting rid of coal? I know that you are blind and that you only think the way you do, but please open your eyes. Again, I am one that would love to see more wind power and other forms of alternative energy, but I don’t close my eyes to the facts that they will also have drawbacks. Ridding our world of coal will not rid the world of all evil. As long as humans inhabit the planet we will be destroying something.
For instance, I bring up the proposed wind power (which I find to be amazing), what happens to the environment when they leak (the necessary fluid to make them produce electricity)?
What about battery powered vehicles, what are we going to do to dispose of all those batteries that will eventually be beyond useful or obsolete (nothing man makes lasts forever)?
What about being a vegetarian. Aren’t we destroying another life form?
What about partial birth abortion, if that baby was wanted then it’s ok, but if it’s not then it’s ok to shove the scissors in it’s brain and kill it.
You see, as long as we inhabit this earth we will be taking advantage of something.