Whaling originally began as an industry in the 11th century. Three to four centuries later they moved up into the Arctic and Right Whales became the most common whales caught.
In 1868 the explosive harpoon was invented to hurry the death of the whales. In 1927 the factory ship was brought into use so that they could process the animals on board thus cutting off the time that would normally have been taken by going back to shore. These also increased the total number of whales they could catch in a give amount of time. The creation of Sonar and aircraft location devices also helped increase stock and cut down on time.
The International Whaling Commission (I. W. C.) was founded in 1946 to create and enforce laws and quotas on whaling industries. In 1980 they banned the use of "cold" (non-explosive harpoons) because they prolonged the time and agony of the death. In 1986 they banned all whaling, except for collection of specimens to be used for research purposes.
Since there is a large demand for whale products in Japan, for cosmetics, soap, lubricant, feed, fertilizer and meat, the Japanese government has funded many ships to bring the whales in "or research purposes". Since the I. W. C. can not prove that they are not using them thus they can not do anything about it. They are usually freebooters armed with harpoons that want to make money. The easiest way to do this is to work for the Japanese government collecting whales. They act much like the pirates of the olden days, violating laws and living on the seas. Recently pirate whaling has reached epidemic levels and even the "legal" operations take far more than they are supposed to.
The Sierra is a diesel-harpoon whaling ship first released onto the water in 1968. It has a rear slip-way for slaughter and a freezer below deck to keep the carcass fresh. Hunts Blue whales, Humpback whales and Right whales. It also took nursing mothers and/or calves. They discovered that they could maximize their profits by taking the tail and dumping the other 80% of the carcass. On the 6th of February 19-the Sierra was attacked with a magnetic limpetmine and sunk in less than 10 minutes. Less than three months later two other pirate whaling ships, Ibsa I and II, were also bombed.
When Green Peace first started nobody knew who they were, but they quickly made a name for themselves as they fought for the whales. On the seas they used everything that they could to prevent the harpoons from firing. They made blockades, worked picket lines, boarded ships and chained themselves to the actual guns in hopes that they wouldn't fire. The Activists were arrested and the ships held at bay but still both sides fought on. On one occasion a 150 foot long Russian harpoon ship, loaded with 160 pound exploding grenade harpoon with foot long barbs, was hunting a pod of sperm whales. As the neared their target and aimed their gun three small boats carrying activists from Green Peace lined up between the ship and the whales, assuming that the ship wouldn't fire on them. The ship fired anyways, narrowly missed the boat and hit one of the whales in an "explosion of spray and foam and flesh; then a whirlpool of boiling blood"1. Public exposure was a more peaceful way of bringing down illegal pirate whaling ships. This has brought in many ships from South Africa, Peru, Chile, Phillipines and brazil, as well as many other countries.
To prepare the carcass for sale they flense it, which involves removing the blubber from the skin and the flesh, then they boil the fat to get the oil. Most of this is done in the slip-way and then the meat is stored in the freezers and the oil is stored in large containers below deck.
In 1972 the UN banned whaling, except for research purposes. In 1979 the USA senate invoked the Pack-Wood-Magnusson Amendment, and in 1982 a 2/3 majority vote in the IWC declared a moratorium on community whaling. One of the best things that has happened in favour of the whales was in 1987 when the Soviet Union, one of the top two producers of whale products in the world, retired it's entire fleet. But, whaling isn't the only thing killing the whales. Toxic industrial and agricultural pollutants are also threats.
