Whaling is the activity or occupation of hunting whales and extracting their meat, skin, and blubber for commercial purposes such as making a type of oil, tools, and more.
Nearly 4,000 years ago, Norway is believed to be the first nation to start the tradition of whale hunting. However, it is possible that the Japanese hunted whales even before this, a search for evidence of this is still ongoing.
Throughout the history and tradition of whaling, every part of the whale has been consumed. Meat, skin, blubber, and even the organs were eaten as high sources of proteins, vitamins, fat minerals, and more. This centuries-old tradition of whaling has lead to a severe downfall in the overall whale population, with most of the species becoming endangered. Thus, in 1946, several countries came together and formed the International Whaling Commission (IWC) which aimed to prevent the overhunting of whales. In 1982, the IWC finally called for a moratorium on commercial whaling, in which Norway and Japan both voted out. Even though the moratorium and sanctuaries have helped a little, the IWC is clear that it’s definitely not enough and there is still work to do. Perhaps this list of whaling quotes will help you realize the importance of the problem and maybe even inspire you to spread some awareness!
The Best Whaling Quotes
These are the best whaling quotes you can search for. Hopefully, these whaling quotes will help you to get more aware of the plight of whales and their endangered condition.
1. “The only language that the Japanese whaling industry understands is economics.”
– Paul Watson.
2. “Putting Zodiacs in front of whaling vessels doesn’t do it anymore. Done that, been there, seen that.”
– Paul Watson.
3. “It is a curious thing that in whaling vessels the Church of England prayer-book is always employed, though there is never a member of that Church among officers or crew.”
– Arthur Conan Doyle.
4. “The real threat to whales is whaling, which has endangered many whale species.”
– Dave Barry.
5. “We owe it to our children to be better stewards of the environment. The alternative? – A world without whales. It’s too terrible to imagine.”
– Pierce Brosnan.
6. “We’re asking consumers to be aware of who funds the whale hunters, and to let them know that whaling is bad for business.”
– Steve Schallhorn.
7. “On my second swim at Deception Island, the water was very clear and I was looking at hundreds of whale bones beneath me. It was a graveyard from the whaling sometime in the 1920s-30s.”
– Lewis Gordon Pugh.
8. “The transfer of the shares in the whaling firm will not affect our policies at all.”
– Hideki Moronuki.
9. “A whale-ship was my Yale College and my Harvard.”
– Herman Melville.
Famous Whaling Quotes
These quotes are from famous figures in literature and by famous personalities working towards ending whaling. These anti-whaling quotes include some literary quotes on whaling.
10. “The whales do not sing because they have an answer, they sing because they have a song.”
– Gregory Colbert.
11. “It is brutal work, though not more brutal than that which goes onto supply every dinner-table in the country.”
– Arthur Conan Doyle, ‘Life On A Greenland Whaler’.
12. “Scientific whaling and other lies will be exposed and become atrocities of the past.”
– Steve Irwin.
13. “Back in 1980, whale watching surpassed whaling as an industry. Now, it’s worth about four times as much. Whale watching provides far, far more jobs to people than whaling ever did. Whale watching has become an ally in the fight to end whaling.”
– Paul Watson.
14. “The book references whales attacking humans, which has never happened… until July 2020 when orcas started ramming boats off Portugal and Spain. Perhaps some of the book’s other predictions will come true.”
– Neil Walker.
15. “When it comes to whaling, Iceland is an international outlaw.”
– Pierce Brosnan.
16. “Besides all those whaling details, Moby Dick is about someone who’s looking for something so huge, something they’ve wanted all their life, yet they know when they find it, it will kill them.”
– Laurie Anderson.
17. “Aye, aye! And I’ll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition’s flames before I give him up.”
– Herman Melville, ‘Moby-Dick Or, The Whale’.
Anti-Whaling Quotes
Here you will find lots of quotes on anti-whaling that can help you to support the cause even more.
18. “Years of global negotiations and declarations have failed utterly to end its illegal slaughter of whales. It’s time to send Iceland a message it can’t ignore: trade sanctions.”
– Pierce Brosnan.
19. “Does Greenpeace think it can stop whaling in Antarctica by publicly eating whale meat and, declaring it delicious? What are these people thinking?”
– Paul Watson.
20. “It’s time to end the cruel slaughter of whales and leave these magnificent creatures alone.”
– Paul McCartney.
21. “All of our targets were criminals, they were all operating in violation of international whaling laws.”
– Paul Watson.
22. “Ships are expendable; the whales are not.”
– Paul Watson.
23. “The fact is, Japan’s whaling is illegal, so just because there is a natural disaster in Japan is no reason for us to stop opposing their illegal activities in the Southern Ocean.”
– Paul Watson.
24. “We are bringing the campaign back to the land… there is no place for whaling in the 21st century.”
– Shane Rattenbury.
25. “Pete Bethune is a hero in New Zealand. He’s a hero worldwide to people who want to see the end of whaling.”
– Paul Watson.
