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"What is the rationale underlying conservation efforts for whales?  in general?  Why some organisms and not others?  Are we interested in human motivations/tastes/well-being, or something more general?"
-Paul Grobstein
 "I get the impression that whaling issues are related to Western imperialism to some degree... The idea that whales are special and have culture comes from the West. The idea that whales are a source of food is from Japan. We shouldn't try to make other counties adopt our way of thinking.  I think it is important to consider how our culture has impacted the way we think about animal conservation "
-lbonnell
"While I accept the fact that eating whale is a part of certain cultures in places other than America, I can't help but hear Naa's voice from class, saying that, just because something is part of a culture, does not mean that it is OK for it to be...she very correctly pointed out the example of female genital mutilation. Should we excuse behaviors/attitudes on the premise that they have already been established in certain cultures?"
-adowton
"But what confused me is when she brought up female genital mutilation. If we should respect other cultures and allow whaling to continue, then shouldn't we respect other cultures and allow female genital mutilation to continue? I'm not saying I'm in favor of female genital mutilation, I'm just wondering what makes humans more special than whales. A policy of moral relativism that applies to whaling should apply to other concerns."
-Riki
"I believed (and might still believe) that we could keep killing animals up to the point where our lack of conservation would irreversibly impact the ecosystem by causing another animal to die out...While NZ does ultimately hope to benefit humankind by preserving interesting and in some cases, aesthetically pleasing animals, it hopes to do so in a less tangible way. Before going to NZ, I only believed in conservation for necessity’s sake however I now recognize that we should not resort to conservation practices only when our way of life is threatened."
-dfishervan
"Conservation makes sense in any settlement or in any age."
-visitor
"Personally, I do believe that whales have culture and would never personally eat a whale if there were other food sources available. That being said, I recognize that some human cultures use whale meat as a food source, and I'm ok with that. However, I am not ok with humans disregarding the effects that commercial whaling, like commercial fishing, has on marine ecosystems. It is not ok to allow another species to go extinct because we wanted it's meat. There is an ecologically responsible way to approach whaling... Until some kind of regulatory agency with real authority is created, regardless of what countries "agree" to, there's going to be no change in behavior."
-Crystal Leonard
 

• It is important to examine how our cultural views impact our opinion of whale conservation.
• Whaling should be in some way regulated to protect marine ecosystems.
• We should examine the value of conservation in a more general sense to protect unique species.