Harpoon: Into the Heart of Whaling

Author:: Andrew Darby
Format:: Softcover

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Short description

How can it be that, 20 years after whaling was 'banned', whales continue to be harpooned? How does Japan get away with bribing small nations to vote to reintroduce commercial whaling? Come on a global journey to follow the whalers, the campaigners, and the whales themselves.

Long description

To many, the whale is a majestic mammal, the 'mind in the ocean'. What were once whaling towns have become homes to hordes of devoted whale watchers, and whaling, for the most part, was thought to have been vanquished. It was just a matter of waiting for those few misguided nations still whaling to come to their senses. That never happened. Instead, the whalers came back. In 1987, the first full year after the worldwide moratorium on commercial whaling was agreed to, 100 whales were killed on the end of grenade-tipped harpoons. In 2005, the figure was around 2,500. Harpoon reveals the political machinations and manipulation at the highest levels that have allowed some countries, particularly Japan, to continue hunting whales against the wishes of the world, with the IWC powerless to stop the slaughter.

Product details

Publisher:: Allen & Unwin
ISBN:: 9781741146110
Publication date:: August 2007
Length:: 229mm
Width:: 154mm
Thickness:: 24mm
Weight:: 422g
Edition:: illustrated edition
Pages:: 312
Illustrations:: Illustrations

Review

Science Books & Films , October 2008
A very thorough study...Its style is very readable, and it makes a good story.

Choice , December 08
[A] disturbing, dramatic, richly researched book...Darby describes in sharp detail the story of this ongoing conflict...Highly recommended. All readers, especially students of international law, whale watchers, and concerned citizens.

Earth Island Journal , April 2010
Andrew Darby is one of the world's best-informed journalists when it comes to whaling issues...[He] has created a niche for himself by following the meetings of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) year after year. In his new(ish) book, Harpoon , he shows off his expertise as he uncovers the full dysfunction of this odd global institution...Darby tells his tale with passion and verve.

Chapter One: From the bridge of a whaling ship. Whaling now. Minke whales are shot in the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and the Antarctic. Other species also die on harpoons in the North Pacific and North Atlantic. The people who hunt, and their stories.Chapter Two: Whales now. What we know of these animals. How they do what they do. Extraordinary beings or dumb ox? The scientists who know them. What others believe. Whales as characters in a narrative. The largest animal ever: Learning about the blues.Chapter Three: Man's long pursuit of the whale, and how the industrial revolution almost eliminated the leviathan. The true cultural history , and the people who once whaled.Chapter Four: Learning the limits to growth. The crash of whale numbers forces the first post World War II international conservation agreement. The early years of the International Whaling Commission.Chapter Five: Blind trickery. Japan's post-war taste for whale flesh, and how it was learned. The Cold War turns to whales: illegal, covert. Soviet whaling revealed.Chapter S