January 13, 2012

Dear President Barack Obama,



Imagine a whale, one of nature’s most gentle creatures swimming through the ocean performing the day-to-day activities it does to survive. Suddenly that whale is stabbed in the back with a harpoon. Imagine the blood flowing out and the salt water flowing into the open wound; then this innocent and gentle creature is hoisted up and hung from the side of a Japanese whaling ship; screeching and crying out for help, but no one comes. Within minutes this majestic creature has died. What I just described sounds like a horrifying scene doesn’t it? Yet this happens every day.


Many arguments have arisen about whether whaling is morally wrong. One argument is that since whaling has been going on since the early days of mankind why should we stop now. I can easily disprove the logic of this argument with an example from the past. In the past in almost every country people have been discriminated against and hated because they look different. Nearly everybody has learned that these differences were just skin deep. My point is that just because things were one way in the past does not that is how they are supposed to be.


Another excuse made for whaling is that for the people of Japan this supplies a great deal of their food. The refute for this argument is that only about 5% of people from Japan actually eat whale meat. And those who do probably don’t know that the whale meat has high levels of mercury in them rendering the potential food toxic.


The most common reason why people think it’s okay to hunt and kill whales is that they’re just animals that they don’t have feelings, that they’re stupid. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact research has shown that whales along with dolphins are the second smartest animals in the world. They understand pain, not just that they know what suffering is. They feel it when they are being harpooned. When they are treated like a disposable commodity they feel what’s happening to them they are aware of the fact they are being tortured and killed. They are not just dumb animals they have near human intelligence.


Now I ask you again imagine that whale. Dying and suffering so that people can have products for their vanity like perfume and soap. So people can have pointless frivolities like whalebone plates. So people can have little decorations made from whale. In all honesty is this something you can condone? There are two ways you can respond. You can sit around and do nothing or you can give your all to put an end to this. In writing this letter I might not accomplish anything except for taking some time during my 3rd block English class to write you a letter, but now at least my voice has been heard.