Stupid Sea Shepherd (SSS)

　　A long time has elapsed since the escalation of the anti-whaling movement.

　　Cetaceans are said to be smart, being typified by dolphins. Is that the reason why the SSS is against whaling? Someone says that whales weren't included on Noah's ark. They say that God doesn't regard whales as food for human beings. Were whales just too big to be accommodated?

　　I knew of this story as follows; a small amount of oil obtained from the brain of whales is highly prized as the most useful oil on the globe. It has been utilized in the gyroscope bearing to maintain the position of missiles.

　　The U.S. used to be a whaling nation. It is said that the U.S. changed its attitude toward whaling to prevent other countries from getting that valuable oil. The U.S. has reportedly stored enough oil for 100 years. The progress of GPS might have diminished the importance of the oil, but such excellent oil can be used in many ways. Anti-whaling activists wouldn't know that anti-whaling, supposedly insisting on the importance of life, is associated with the production of weapons.

　　Even if SSS's purpose is genuinely to preserve nature, how do they cope with the outbreak of anisakis in the whaling-prohibited ocean. The number of anisakis used to be controlled by whaling. The amount of fish catches around the Antarctic Ocean will decline due to the change of the food chain. Can we not say that the activity of the SSS is the apotheosis of arrogance, forgetting that human beings are also members of nature.

　　Human beings need other creatures' lives to live. I can't understand their appeal that you can eat livestock like cows, but never eat whales. Because whales are smart? How about the tradition of eating dogs in China and Korea? SSS is full of deception.

　　To claim lives instantly without giving pain, and receive them with thanks, honoring them; it's the Japanese way and far different from simple slaughter.

　　This is the scene of seal slaughter in Canada. People control the number of seals for their livelihood. I don't want to criticise them. What does the SSS think of it?
http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/canadian-seal-slaughter.aspx

　　Next, I'll present you a picture and movie from Denmark. They are slaughtering numerous dolphins in a small bay in Denmark. Dolphins are gradually dying. Isn't it cruel? Dolphins are surely suffering pain. What comments does the SSS issue? I hope that people try to remove pain from dolphins.
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-371086?ref=feeds/latest

　　As for my personal opinion, the SSS seems to be obsessed by the notion of racial discrimination, just like the former U.S. president, FDR. I can't help feeling like that.

(Vocabulary)
elapse (フォーマル) 〈時が〉 経過する
cetacean クジラ目(もく)
include…を含める, 加える, 盛り込む
include sth in/on sth  ＜…＞に＜…＞を加える
We've included some music in the evening's program. 夕方のプログラムに音楽を盛り込みました．
Noah's ark  ノアの方舟
prized 大切な, 貴重な
highly prized  珍重される
fish catches  漁獲量
catch  [C] (魚の) 捕獲量, 漁獲物
the Antarctic Ocean  南氷洋
food chain  食物連鎖
apotheosis [名] [U](フォーマル)  極致; 頂点
deception  だますこと, 詐欺行為
claim a life/victim 〈事故・病気・戦争などが〉 人命を奪う［犠牲者を出す］
slaughter  [名] [U] (家畜の) 食肉処理, 畜殺;(けなして) (人間の) 大量虐殺
livelihood  生計
We depend on tourism for our livelihood.  我々は観光業で生計を立てている．

 

Comments

[Akibell Gibson]

Prime minister´s office on Facebook is now filled with those SS Idiots.trying to kick them out from the site everyday.if you interesting about sss plz visit the site we need more people to block those guys.

[toronto pest control]

Hello Shiroi Tora!!!

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[deer hunting]

Remarkable issues here. I'm very happy to peer your article. Thank you a lot and I'm looking forward to contact you. Will you please drop me a mail?

[KUMO]

I agree with your viewpoint. Bambi is popular in Japan too but, I didn't know about the deer hunting in the U.S. Thanks.

It requires huge amount of water to raise livestocks. Cultivation of their foods, like corn, needs much water. Many people and researchers in Japan are making efforts to produce our foods in the sea now. Even giant fish, like tuna, are now farmed and their tastes are not bad. Their prices are naturally rather lower than natural tuna.

Around 20 years ago, when I was a resident, I sometimes visited the meat processing center to receive the blood of pigs. I worked on the research of the liver transplant at that time. To quickly describe, I was trained to do surgery (liver transplant) using pigs and needed their blood for transfusion. I sometimes heard the screams of pigs there. They were killed instantly without feeling pain, but they would know their destiny just before the slaughter.

Most Japanese are surprised to know that the members of SSS eat beef nonchalantly.

[Shiroi Tora]

SSS...very funny :)

I agree with you wholeheartedly. You are, of course, correct. Emotionalism plays a big part in the activists mind...ignorance, the rest. The same type of situation played out in the US against deer hunting after Bambi became popular again (I don't know about when it was first released...but when I was young and it was re-released). Whenever emotions are evoked...reason often goes out the window.

Controlled hunting to preserve the numbers for future hunting...I understand. Slaughter in as humane a way as possible...I understand. To not consider a valid food source because of emotions...I don't understand.

We are the biggest problem on the planet...uncontrolled population increase. It will create a strain on our resources beyond what many can imagine now. Just as with any animal base...overpopulation...too few resources...fierce competition for what is left (wars)...plagues easily spread...(and in human's case) starvation due to dependence on a fraile distribution method (can be easily disrupted by any number of ways) and on limited strains of grains which are susceptible to the same infectious agents (whether from Fungi, Bacteria or Viruses) or from the same natural pests.

When meat can be laboratory made economically...and made more palatable...perhaps people may then talk of limiting our choice of food sources...but that is a long way off I fear.

Again, our greatest threat comes from ourselves...our inability to control something so basic as population control. All of our future problems will come from this. It will severely hamper our ability to adapt to a changing environment (and will result in a lessening of resources per person - all types...not just food).