Even though
we live in an island I never seen a whale in my childhood. But I saw a whale
through one of my very first gift from my father. It was Moby-Dick; or, The Whale (1851) the novel by Herman Melville
.Actually I took more than a month to read this book.
But I don t think I have
properly understood this book even in my thirties. "Call me Ishmael," that is
how it begins .One of the most recognizable opening lines in American literature.
If I had second thought of reading any American writer that s only Herman
Melville and Jack London. Actually my father believed it’s good to spend a life
like Jack London.
Anyway back
to again Moby-Dick in life we may not
chasing a white whale. But we are chasing many more and most cases ended up
disappointing. If I really understood Moby-Dick
I might have ended up in
totally different person. Now it is too late. Now I too decided to chase my own
Moby –Dick.
As a child I
really enjoyed “Free willy” film series .Even that also given by my father. But
still I haven’t seen a whale in real. Actually first time I saw a whale it was
in 2011 at Mirissa.Mirissa is a coastal town in southern province. Each mountain
belongs to the wealthiest people and all around the famous architects have kept
their identity including Jeffry Bawa to Tadao Ando.Also Mirissa has unspoiled
nice beaches.
Apart from that
Mirissa is the closest point to where blue whales are inhabited because it has
appropriate environmental conditions to live these giants. Whale watching in
Mirissa is a fascinating experience. The day I saw blue whale I got a different
feeling of the scale, can you believe the largest mammal in the world just few
meters away from us.
We Sri
Lankan Enjoy watching Whales, but there is a culture who enjoy killing whales.
Whale hunting is a very profitable business. This known as Whaling, the hunting
of whales primarily for meat, oil, blubber, and scientific research. Its
earliest forms date to at least circa 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have
long histories of subsistence whaling and harvesting beached whales.
But Industrial
whaling emerged with organized fleets in the 17th century; competitive national
whaling industries in the 18th and 19th centuries. By the late 1930s, more than
50,000 whales were killed annually.
Aristotle
Socrates commonly called Ari or Aristo Onassis, infamous for Whaling between
1950 and 1956, Onassis had success whaling off the Peruvian coast. His first
expedition made a net profit of US$4.5 million. There were accusations made by
Norwegian Government killing infant whales. It says all whales that killed in
cold blood.
But world
whaling market dominates by Japan. Japanese whaling has a long history. Using
traditional methods of whaling . Archaeological evidence in the form of whale
remains discovered in burial mounds suggests that whales have been consumed in
Japan since the Jōmon period (12,000
BC). Without the means to engage in active whaling, consumption at that time
primarily stemmed from stranded whales.
The earliest records of hand thrown
harpoons date back to the 12th century.
Apart from
that Whaling in the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic is the hunting and
slaughter of mainly long-finned pilot whales when they swim near by the shore
of the islands, and has been practiced since about the time of the first Norse
settlements on the islands. Around 800 long-finned pilot whales are killed
annually,It s more like a festival of Blood.
This is part
of the traditional division of labor concerning grindadráp that is centuries
old, and has not changed over time.
In Faroese
literature and art, grindadráp is an important motif. These old verses are
still sung by the Faroese today along with the traditional Faroese chain dance.
In recent years the grindavísan has been sung in a more modern way by the
Faroese Viking Metal band Týr, the melody is the same and the verses are the
same, only much shorter version of the ballad and with instruments.
Islander of
the Faroese saying they enjoy the warmness of the whale blood in the cold Atlantic.
This could be true, Human always surviving what they can find in the nature.
at the 2010
meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Morocco, representatives of
the 88 member states discussed whether or not to lift the 24-year ban on
commercial whaling. Japan, Norway and Iceland have urged the organization to
lift the ban. They are the whaling nations in the world.
I m very
sure about one thing majority of the Sri Lankans will never worry about whaling
,except those who has passenger boats in Mirissa.
