Canada Allows Killing of Over 500 Narwhals
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 12. 3.08
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In a heartbreaking move, the Canadian government decided it would rather allow 500 narwhals to be shot one by one at an air hole in the ice, rather than bring in icebreakers to help free the whales.
We wish it were a sick joke, but the world is actually this twisted.
Despite the fact that Canada has access to powerful icebreakers, they decided that rather than spend the money and effort to try and save over 500 trapped narwhals, they’d instead let Inuit hunters shoot the whales one by one as they tried to breathe at the only open air spaces in the ice.
Apparently they thought that the noise from the icebreakers would be too stressful for the animals.
"Local hunters shot the narwhals as they surfaced to breathe in the only leads of open water," said Rebecca Aldworth, director of Humane Society International/Canada. "The DFO has tried to defend its unconscionable choice not to break the ice and free the whales, claiming that the noise of the icebreaker would have been 'stressful' for the narwhals. Clearly, the deafening blasts of the rifles, and the volumes of blood filling the water in the only breathing holes available is far more stressful."
Humm….potential stress or absolute death (plus the stress from swimming among dead members of your pod just before you’re shot). Which would you choose?
Narwhal tusks sell for a big pile of cash, so it is obvious that this was a way to use the “trapped without escape” excuse to kill four times the legal limit on endangered animals. Now that is definitely not an effort to save a red-listed species.
Via Pacific Press via PlanetSave ; and CBC News
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that must be a joke. unbelievable
Incredibly disgusting. Shame on the Canadian government for this senseless destruction.
In this day and age how can we let this happen? This is an atrocity!!
If this type of mental illness on behalf of the government is allowed - then why is there no public outrage from Canadians?!
It's like watching Whale Wars - there are only a small part of the population that actually give a damn about the future of any given species.
Whomever passed this should be plastered on every front page in Canada, and on the Web and asked to resign. Disgusting.
Narwhal whales are not an endangered species. I realize that doesn't make all of this any less tragic really, but I don't think spreading that falsehood helps anyone or anything either.
If this type of mental illness on behalf of the government is allowed - then why is there no public outrage from Canadians?!
It's like watching Whale Wars - there are only a small part of the population that actually give a damn about the future of any given species.
Whomever passed this should be plastered on every front page in Canada, and on the Web and asked to resign. Disgusting.
why not line up these officials who ok:ed this and do the same!whatgood are they to mankind anyway?
Ashamed to be Canadian right now. :( I shall contact my local MP and the government ASAP to protest!
the thing that is most outrageous to me is that we are only hearing about it after the fact. i follow environmental news pretty regularly, and subscribe to other feeds besides treehugger. why was there no outrage BEFORE it happened. we could have done something then.
I'm ashamed to say that I'm Canadian...but I am absolutely ashamed....This story disgusts me, and i plan to write a nasty letter to let the government know....
Those idiots!!! What the hell were they thinking???
They're not an Endangered Species. They're not even a Threatened Species. They're a NEAR THREATENED species, which is before Vulnerable, which is before Threatened. Dishonesty just makes your argument look worse. You don't need to exaggerate the facts to make situation look even worse than it already is.
As an Alaskan I personally relate to this horrible tragedy. We have had government sanctioned native whaling to blame for the near extinction of the Cook Inlet Beluga. Yet no one learns from our example and still we have native whaling with rifles and high-speed boats all over the world.
Once again it shows that Canada cares nothing about life. Canada seems to me to be an anti-life country. They were shot so their tusks could be sold and some stupid reason about stress was giving. Canada is a ******** of a country, I am sorry to say but every time i read or hear about Canada it is about some senseless murder of innocence.
Ok first, I'm going to admit right now that I thought norwhales were something made up for Children's stories. Like Unicorns.
Which, rather than making me feel ashamed and stupid, makes me realize that there is so much I don't know about the world - and curious to learn more. If I've lived a rather exposed 30 years and still manage to be awed by the planet, surely that's worth protecting.
If this behavior is allowed to continue then the animals WILL be endangered and WILL exist only in children's stories.
Do your research before you right such an article.
The closest icebreakers to the hole in the ice were more than 7 days away, at which point the majority of the whales would have starved or drowned. They were not worried about the ships causing the whales stress but rather scaring them to swim away from hole in the ice and drowning.
Though it's a tragic event nature indeed, the decision was made to make use of the whales that were certain to die rather than just let them suffer a long and arduous death.
Hey, Canada made a huge mistake here.
But not as huge as those the US consistently makes - including being one of the last countries in the world to accept the facts of global warming. Illegal wars. Useless EPA. Fish going extinct. 89 guns per 100 citizens (FACT!). Inventors of the Hummer. Healthcare system that's most expensive in the world, and only available to select few. Wow, I'm glad I'm not an American!
@Graydon
What kind of story would that be.
Canadian government sanctions euthanizing stranded whales, allows natives to utilize carcasses.
The reality of the situation wouldn't allow anyone here to complain about how horrible killing whales is and how human life per one of the comments above is not worth the life of a whale.
You can be about conservation, compassion, and nature and still be open minded enough to understand when it's necessary to be a pragmatist. If the whales were going to die it's much better that they be utilized than to allow them to suffer while starving to death.
Thanks, Graydon, for your post. The government did the humane thing. Everyone wants to blame someone for this very sad event, but it was just a tragic accident.
Where is Greenpeace and PETA? They love to be outspoken and protest when harm comes to whales or other animals. Why cant they focus their energies on helping these animals? If money is an issue for the Canadian government, Greenpeace and PETA should kick in some cash. I see enough PETA bumber stickers out there, why cant any of the "protect the dophins" people donate some money? They should be out there feeding these animals until the breakers can make it there. If these two organizations do not help out in this situation - we will all know them as being FAKES!
People please educate yourselves.
There were no icebreakers nearby, and even if there were, narwhals run away from ordinary vessels, they hear them coming from miles away and vacate the area. An icebreaker coming anywhere near these trapped narwhals would have spooked them into running away, and getting trapped somewhere else under the ice. There was no way to save these animals, it doesn't matter how much money you throw at them, that's nature. Anyone who tells you otherwise just wants your money.
Thanks to Graydon , its a terrible story but the rush for sensationalism of seems to have overrun the facts. Even if ice breakers were available now, its so cold (-30 to -40 C) that the ice would freeze over in minutes, so you can either run a story about how the whales drown, or how they were culled. Sad either way. Please do a little more research next time a story like this is run.
I stumbled on this page as my interests are as enviro/green/sustainable as anyone. If this is an example of the kind of "journalism" that is on treehugger then you are just plain stupid. At least present some information on both sides of a story instead of being sensationalist and misinforming readers.
Brutal coverage. How about writing intelligent civil articles?
Dear Canada, from your southerly neighbors:
You make even US look good.
Sickening.
And I thought Canada was becoming one of the more progressive nations regarding climate and nature matters.
But it seems greed rules all.
Not a big surprise though. It reminds me of some Alaska residents. Those who choose to live in the wildest and purposefully least developed state.... and complain about animals and laws protecting nature preventing them from paving everything over.
I just love how people make decisions on behalf of others. In this case, being these animals.
How about they left them alone and just let nature take its course. If they died on their own, tragic, albeit. But killing them when they're alive and have the potential to live on.. that's a true tragedy.
Doctors get caught "playing God" by keeping people alive. What would you call this? What gives these people the right to judge another living creatures life is valid or destined for death.
On a side note, to all that refer to these idiots in such a way as "Canadians" shouldn't. You're putting an entire country into a basket that may otherwise not belong in it.
In regards to the wishful thinking of knowing about this before it happens, sadly, it's more impossible than possible. It's hard to report on something that hasn't happened yet. I do understand what you mean though.
SteveC
This is what the Kevin Hill wrote to me on behalf of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Thank you for your e-mail regarding the unfolding narwhal situation in Nunavut, Canada.
I want to assure you that Fisheries and Oceans Canada is taking this incident very seriously. Fisheries and Oceans Canada works hard to protect whales throughout the Arctic so, like anyone else, we are obviously distressed by the numbers involved. We were in contact with our Nunavut government partners in Pond Inlet as soon as these trapped narwhals were discovered and there were extensive discussions to look at options of saving the whales. We also flew our officers to the area as soon as it was possible to do so in order to assess the situation.
Our scientists and Coast Guard professionals are some of the foremost experts on whales and the arctic environment in the world. We also rely on the knowledge and experience of the Inuit of the area and in the particular incident worked with members of the Government of Nunavut's Department of Enviroment.
There are, however, a number of issues that limited our options in response to the situation.
The major issues are location and climate. Pond Inlet is located at the northern tip of Baffin Island. Flying time to the community is approximately three hours north of Iqaluit, which is itself three hour's flying time north of Ottawa. Getting to the community with any sort of equipment would be difficult. Transportation options are extremely limited given the terrain and extreme isolation of the community. It is also currently minus 30+ plus the wind chill in the community, which presents its own challenges.
The option of sending an icebreaker to save the whales was looked at. Our scientists indicated, however, narwhals are particularly sensitive to noise and the engine noise from the ice breaker would stress the whales further and drive them deeper under the ice where they would drown. This would also preclude the whales from following the icebreaker out of the entrapment. Cutting a path out of the ice with other means is also impossible as open water is 50 kilometres away from the entrapment site. Contrary to comments made by some in the media, the reality of the matter is the nearest icebreaker was in St John's, Newfoundland -- more than 2,400 kms (1,700 miles) from Pond Inlet or seven to ten days' sailing in optimum weather. Canada does not keep its icebreakers in the Arctic Ocean in the winter, due to the thickness of the ice, so our icebreakers were back in port for the winter or on standby for search and rescue. Even if the icebreaker could get to Pond Inlet, the nature of the ice, the location and the climate means that the ice freezes in blocks behind the ice breaker almost immediately, the ice breaker does not leave a nice line of open ice. There would be no open water for the narwhals to use to follow the icebreaker for 50 kms to open ocean, assuming of course they could ignore the engine noise which usually drives them away, and they understood our intention and abandoned their breathing holes and followed icebreaker to safety.
These sort of entrapments are, unfortunately, a natural occurrence and usually happen in areas where humans do not see them. This population of narwhal is a healthy and productive one, so even with the numbers of narwhal lost in Pond Inlet, there should not be a significant effect on the overall population.
Unfortunately, the realities of location and climate limit our options. These whales were going to die of starvation or drowning. A difficult decision had to made as to what was the most humane way to deal with this situation and the one to allow the local Inuit to harvest the whales was seen as the best given the limited options.
I hope this answers a couple of your questions and concerns.
Sincerely,
Kevin Hill
A/Communications Manager, Arctic
Central and Arctic Region | Région du Centre et de l’Arctique Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada
501 University Crescent, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N6 Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada
Ph: 204.984.8792
Fax: 204.983.5192
kevin.hill@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Stories like these would probably never show up in media coverage-I wouldn't know about this if I didn't read t.h.
So I would think not many Canadians are aware of this.
As a general stance, I'm becoming more and more ashamed of being a Canadian...the government that we have (and the majority of the people who voted for them) are taking away the Canada I once knew and loved...
There is something seriously wrong with the Canadian Government. I'm also disgusted with their annual seal hunt.
i can't believe this ontop of the seal hunts!! what kind of country are they? and they call america inhumane!
i can't believe them...this is inhuman and wrong! and on top of this they also have a annual seal hunt! i can't believe what the human race has come to...its dishonoring and sick...it shames this whole world...