“Ah, the traditional forklift.” That morning, the first of the annual fall hunt, a crew of Inupiat Eskimos cruising the Arctic Ocean in a small powerboat spotted the whale’s spout, speeded to the animal’s side and killed the whale with an exploding harpoon.

Subsistence whaling is a way of life for the Inupiat and Siberian Yupik people who inhabit the Western and Northern coasts of Alaska. From Gambell to Kaktovik, the bowhead whale has been our central food resource and the center of our culture for millennia, and remains so today.

Killing whales for food has been happening for millennia. But it was commercial whaling – turning whales into barrels of oil for profit – that led to the wholesale destruction of most of the world’s populations of big whales. We have seen many populations showing signs of recovery since hunting was stopped.

Marine Mammal Protection Act. n 1972, the United States Congress passed the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). The Act makes it illegal for any person residing in the United States to kill, hunt, injure or harass all species of marine mammals, regardless of their population status.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act also states anyone who harasses or disturbs a gray whale could face civil or criminal charges. “We feel people do not mean to harm them, but they may inadvertently do so,” Schramm said. “These animals need our protection and our respect.

In 1986, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) banned commercial whaling because of the extreme depletion of most of the whale stocks. Anti-whaling countries and environmental groups oppose lifting the ban. Under the terms of the IWC moratorium, aboriginal whaling is allowed to continue on a subsistence basis.

Japan – like a number of other nations around the world – has a centuries-long tradition of whale hunting. After the Second World War, as the country struggled to feed its population, whale meat became a staple of the Japanese table.

Why does whaling continue? Whaling is illegal in most countries, however Iceland, Norway, and Japan still actively engage in whaling . Over a thousand whales are killed each year for their meat and body parts to be sold for commercial gain.

Catches have increased from 18 whales in 1985 to over 70 whales in 2010. The latest IWC quota regarding the subsistence hunting of the bowhead whale allows for up to 336 to be killed in the period 2013–2018. Residents of the United States are also subject to the federal bans against whaling as well.

Bowhead whales are still hunted in northeastern Canada: two to four per year. Harvested meat is sold through shops and supermarkets in northern communities where whale meat is a component of the traditional diet.

There is relatively little demand for it, compared to farmed livestock, and commercial whaling, which has faced opposition for decades, continues today in very few countries (mainly Iceland, Japan and Norway), although whale meat used to be eaten across Western Europe and colonial America.

Japan and Iceland are the only two countries that currently use this provision. Japan has been engaged in scientific whaling since 1987, a year after the IWC moratorium on commercial whaling began. Iceland recently began “scientific whaling” in 2003 before resuming their commerical hunt in 2006.

Peru

Whale meat or blubber is consumed in Norway, Japan, some Caribbean nations, Russia, Canada, and the state of Alaska—either for subsistence, cultural, or commercial reasons.

Because it is a mammal, whale meat is not like fish, but more a very gamey version of beef, or even venison. ‘The taste is different from beef. Whale meat is more tender than beef, and it’s more easy to digest,’ said Mrs Ohnishi, insisting it has other benefits.

Whale meat resembles venison with its heavily oxygenated, dark red color that suggests lean, high-protein muscle. Typically, the whale’s so-called lean meat — from the breast and the tail — are served up. But whale isn’t only served slathered with some kind of condiment or sauce.

Manatee tastes like pork (but we wouldn’t know!)

Hippopotamus The taste is mild, less than lamb and more than beef, slightly more marbled than usual venison. It tastes exactly like, well, hippo.”

The answer is occasionally, and sometimes grudgingly. American whalers felt the gamey flavor and tough texture classified whale meat as improper for consumption. Some found the taste of dolphins and porpoises more palatable, while others didn’t mind the taste of the giant whales.

DECCAN CHRONICLE. According to the man he stayed inside the whale for three days and three nights. “The only thing that kept me alive where the raw fish I ate and the light from my waterproof watch,”says the man.

Most Japanese have never eaten dolphin meat, although elderly people are likely to have eaten whale. Dolphins are also eaten in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, although no local fishermen reportedly catch dolphins these days.