Entries by Kate O'Connell

For those of us living in the US, Thanksgiving is a time when thoughts turn to tradition (for more on this you can visit our North American blog).  So my eye was caught when reading an article in Iceland’s Morgunbladid newspaper on an award that had been given to two students by the American Anthropological Association for their study of traditional Icelandic food habits.

Sveinn Sigurdsson and Ashlan Falletta-Cowden looked at generational changes in diet, and concluded that most of the younger generation in Iceland were no longer sure as to what constituted traditional Icelandic foods. Eating habits have changed greatly over the course of the past three decades, and Sigurdsson pointed to the fact that today’s youth in Iceland are more apt to eat chips and pizza than traditional foods such as singed sheep heads.

This would tally with a poll that was conducted in 2006 by the Capacent Gallup Group, which showed that whale meat was being consumed on a regular basis by only 1.1% of households in Iceland.  The same poll found that roughly 82% of people aged 16 to 24 never eat whale meat. 

So just why is Fisheries Minister Einar Gudfinnsson trying to promote the Icelandic whaling industry?  It could be that Japan’s recent decision to allow imports of whale meat is causing hope that the stagnating domestic demand for whale meat could be offset by sales to Japan.  The only problem? Japan’s market seems to be equally on a downhill slide, as the leading whale meat restaurant in Tokyo has said it will close its doors due to economic losses.

A key issue across all of this is this attempt to define exactly what constitutes tradition.  Culture is both evolutionary and adaptive, more fluid than static.  Discussions on “traditional whale eating cultures” are at the very center of the current debate in the IWC, with pro-whaling nations attempting to blur the distinction between whaling for true subsistence need and whaling for profit.

Stomachs and hearts at WDCS are usually churning away at this time of year, as we await news that the Japanese fleet has left for yet another year of whaling in Antarctic waters.  This year, the acid levels are at an all time high – literally. 

A new study by researchers from Australia’s University of New South Wales and CSIRO has shown that acid levels in the southern ocean are rising much faster than previously predicted; the so-called “tipping point” – the point at which certain species of marine plankton would actually dissolve away due to a low pH factor – has apparently been accelerated by 30 years. 

Previous estimates had the melt-down occuring in 2060; this new study, however, indicates that acidification could happen as early as 2030.  This would be in roughly one human generation from now.   For minke whales, the main target of Japan’s southern ocean hunt, this would be between two and three generations based on an estimated age of sexual maturity for female minkes of 6 to 8 years.  For humpbacks, also potentially threatened by Japan’s harpoons, this would mean about four generations.

Such a dramatic change in ocean acidity could well cause large scale ecosystem shifts that would affect the entire Antarctic food chain, from tiny plankton up to the great whales. It is hard to understand just why Japan, who had been a key promoter of global efforts to limit the impacts of climate change, is still willing to train its harpoons on the very whales that it knows are threatened by rapid changes in habitat.

As a lover of whales, or perhaps as a lover of great literature, you will recognise the reference to one of the greatest epic novels in the English language.  Herman Melville's Moby Dick is an extraordinary tale of the obsession of a whaling captain, Ahab, driven to hunt a majestic white whale to the exclusion of all else in his life. 

Shouting out, “to the last I grapple with thee, from hell’s heart I stab at thee, for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee”, Ahab launches a final harpoon, only to have the rope attached to the spear wrap itself around him, dragging him down into the cold ocean depths as Moby dives.  The whale then takes his revenge, destroying the vessel and crew.  The only survivor is the first-time whalerman, Ishmael.