“If we can imagine a horse having two or three explosive spears stuck into its stomach and being made to pull a butcher’s truck through the streets of London while it pours blood in the gutter, we shall have an idea of the present method of killing. The gunners themselves admit that if whales could scream the industy would stop, for nobody would be able to stand it.” – Dr. Harry D. Little, ship’s physician, after returning form an Antarctic whaling expedition in 1946.

Today’s methods of hunting and killing whales are basically the same as those used in 1946.

There is nothing humane or compassionate about the way modern whalers kill their quarry. How do they do it? With exploding harpoons. If the whale is still alive after the harpoon’s head explodes in its body, the whalers finish the job with high-powered rifles.

The International Whaling Commission defines the humane killing of a whale as “… causing its death without pain, stress or distress perceptible to the animal.” Whales killed with exploding harpoons and high-powered rifles must certainly feel extreme “pain, stress and distress.” Whaling is not humane — it’s cruelty. For example:

• Whales are often pursued to the point of exhaustion before they are harpooned.
• Even well-aimed exploding harpoons are not always fatal, and most whales are harpooned multiple times before they die.
• Wounded, harpooned whales are dragged to whaling vessels, where they are speared with more harpoons, shot with high-powered rifles or electrocuted with electrified lances.

Because whales are well-adapted to dive deeply, they can slow their breathing and heart rate, and direct blood to their brain even as the rest of the animal starts shutting down. This means that some whales that appear dead or unconscious are probably still feeling extreme pain.

It’s time to end this cruelty. It’s time to end whaling.