Detailed Discussion: The Global Protection of Whales - Angela
Lang - Animal Legal & Historical Center - Publish Date: 2002 -
Place of Publication: Michigan State University - Detroit
College of Law A. Why Whales need Protection- The History of the
Human-Cetacean Interaction The world has been killing whales
since around 800 A.D. Whales were hunted for their oil, meat,
and whalebone. They were also turned into raw material for
products including shoe polish, dog food, margarine and tennis
racket strings. For centuries, the industry operated on a "boom
and bust" basis. Coastal species in Europe, and then in North
America were decimated by whalers. Then, when the need for whale
products increased, these hunters moved on to target open ocean
or "pelagic" species. The fin, the right, the humpback, the
bowhead, the sei, the blue, and the sperm whales were hunted to
the brink of extinction. B. Technological Developments in
Whaling Technological developments in the mid-Nineteenth century
spurred whalers to increase t