Whaling: Good and Bad

Whaling used to be good. The whales were used for oil, meat, and candle wax. Japan is now the biggest whaling country in the world. Japan started whaling in the 12th century and they have been hunting whales for 1,000 years. Japanese officials say that whaling is necessary to collect information about the habitat, diet, and the population of whales.

The United States and other countries think whaling is bad. We don't need whales for oil, meat or candle wax today. Lots of whale species are endangered because of whaling. Japan keeps whaling for meat even though it got banned in 1986. Japan added two new whales to its hunting list - the large sperm whale and the Bryde's whale. They are both endangered almost to extinction.

We need whales in the ocean to eat plankton and keep the ecosystem in the ocean balanced.