Whaling
Introduction

When we talk about whaling, we get into some murky water. Whaling is done with an explosive charge inside a harpoon that explodes beneath the whale's skin, killing it.
Japan is a main whale-hunting nation, but they do it under the guise of research; investigations prove this to be untrue. The argument can be made that whales are a major source of revenue for whaling countries, but developing countries such as Brazil, Argentina, and South Africa say that whale watching is much more profitable than whale hunting. In fact, there are no whaling countries in the Southern Hemisphere, and Peru, Uruguay, Australia, and New Zealand, strongly refute Japans hunting under the scientific research guise. Some Inuit in the Arctic Circle depend on whale meat to survive the harsh winters, and their numbers can hardly threaten such a species. Some people in this area however, admit that they do not need to hunt whale, but do so for traditional reasons.
Some people make the argument that whales are just as intelligent as pigs, and the eating of pigs is not banned, but this is based on controversial dolphin intelligence tests; the real intelligence of these animals is still not yet known and, besides, cannot be applied to whales. Also, pigs aren't exactly an endangered species, are they?

History

Commercial whaling has been in place since at least the 11th century. There have been, until present times, whale products in practically everything someone owned. The blubber was a major ingredient is cosmetics, and was used as lamp fuel until petroleum replaced it in the 19th Century. Baleen (whale bone, usually teeth) was used in women's corsets. Whale meat is still eaten widely in Japan.
Because of improved refining processes, the Antarctic Blue Whales, the Pacific Humpback and Sperm Whales were slaughtered in large numbers. More than 30,000 whales were killed until WWII, when the hunting was stopped for a short period of time. By the 1960s, whaling became a less profitable industry and American, and most European countries, eased out of the whaling business. Only the Soviets and Japan had factory-class whaling ships still active.

The International Whaling Commission was founded in 1946 to internationally regulate whale hunting, and prohibited the killing of Gray and Right whales, restricted the taking of other species, and sanctioned areas according to breeding seasons. Negative US public sentiment for whaling lead to the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, which prohibited all whale hunting in US waters. Globally, wildlife conservation organizations began to influence people that whaling should be ended completely.