Once again the 20 year ban on whale hunting is under attack, countries that belong to the international whaling commission has voted, 33 nations for whale hunting, and 32 against.

The ban is still in place because three-quarters of nations must support ending it for it to be called off. Some fear that the recent vote is the beginning steps in the return of hunting whales all over the world.
The nations supporting whale hunting include Norway, Iceland, Japan and Russia. Japan, Iceland and Norway have already begun hunting whales and have increased their quotas this year to 2,000 whales.
While anti whaling people protest the inhumane killing of these magnificent mammals, pro whaling countries claim that modern techniques used to hunt whales are humane, and the animal is dead with in two minutes after the explosive harpoon head enters the animals body. Further investigation proves that this is not the case.

E.C.M. Parsons, N.A. Rose and M.P. Simmonds highlight the physiological adaptations that have evolved in cetaceans to survive in the marine environment and therefore have a significant impact on the time it takes a whale to die. Furthermore, adaptations for diving may make it difficult to determine when a whale is dead, for most such adaptations slow the process of dying. For example: with a species adapted for extended dives, the brain and other vital organs get well-oxygenated blood first, and may continue functioning for surprisingly long periods in the absence of inspired oxygen. Thus, harpoon wounds to the thoracic cavity and lungs-wounds that we would expect to be lethal (based on our experience with terrestrial mammal), may actually allow a whale to live for an extended period (Wills and Bob 1995). Conversely, a deep reduction in metabolism, and/or a reduction in blood flow to all but essential organs such as the brain, and/or a virtual cessation of breathing might erroneously be taken as indicators of death, when, in fact, brain function may continue (Wills and Bob 1995).
Morphological features such as size, blubber thickness, skeletal structure and location of vital organs significantly influence the efficacy of particular killing methods. These differences may effect the course of projectiles as they travel through the body towards localized vital organs while encountering bone as well as different thick nesses of blubber and muscle. Such factors may also vary between individuals of the same species, according to age, sex and season. During whaling operations, harsh sea conditions often result in poor shooting accuracy, furthermore, whalers often fire at considerable range. Both circumstances may greatly increase the margin for error, thereby lengthening the time-to-death (TTD) and therefore the associated suffering of the animal.
The lack of specific killing requirements for different whales of different size may also be a major contributing factor in extended times to death. Today, larger species, such as fin and sperm whales, are killed using methods that were developed for the much smaller minke whale, and generally speaking, current killing methods are not adequately adapted for the species being killed.

Years ago Green Peace documented the killing of Sperm Whales by Japan, the whales were shot with an explosive "war head" harpoon The cable was fed by a huge drum attached to the killer vessel, the whale was then made to tow the vessel for days, blood running from the huge wound, changing the blue waters of the ocean RED. Until, the suffering animal finally dies from the loss of blood. The other vessel that accompanied the killer vessel was called the processing ship, this vessels back dropped down where the whale is maneuvered on to the door, where it was then winched up to the factory area, there it was processed.
The Japanese whale hunters are so barbaric that they will deliberately wound a whale, knowing that whales are community creatures and when the pod senses that one of their own is in trouble the others will come to their aid. The Japanese will wait and then shoot many more whales the easy way. The Japanese have been documented even wounding a calf so that its mother will make an easy target. Japan at one time wanted to come in to Baja, where the whales calve to whale hunt. There is no sense of humanity from the countries who want to whale hunt.
Mans greed almost drove many whale species into extinction, in this day in age there is no good reason for whales to be hunted. Synthetic oils have taken the place of whale oil. Cosmetics (Avon was a big user of whale oil) no longer include whale oil, and Heresy's Chocolates no longer uses whale oil in its chocolate. I might add because of the increased pressure by whale advocates many other companies decided to ban whale products also.
If you have never seen a whale swimming in the ocean, you are missing a wonderful experience. The site of these creatures is beyond words. If you have ever looked into the eyes of a whale you will see in my opinion a creature that can look deep into your soul, eyes that understand. It is up to us to keep these creatures alive and well in our oceans. Unfortunately as humans we do not often do the right thing. We need to remember, as humans, the species that is suppose to be on top of the intelligent list, do not own the earth, we share the earth and should be good Shepard's
Take the time and head down to the coast, spend the day whale watching, I bet after you see a migrating or local whale your attitude towards the creature will change.