South Park “Whale Whores” Manages To Hilariously Offend Everyone Equally

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by Michael dEstries October 29, 2009
Categories: Animals, Film/TV
Tags: .

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Last night, South Park went straight for the heart of the Japanese whaling controversy with their episode titled Whale Whores. If you’ve watched Animal Planet’s Whale Wars, seen The Cove, or read any one of our many articles on the issue, you’ll find that South Park creators Matt and Trey probably did the same. The episode satirically attacks on all levels and makes everyone involved look ridiculous. True to the style of the series, however, everything ties up neatly with a message that puts the entire debate in perspective.

If you’ve seen the preview, you know that the show starts off with the Japanese, portrayed in traditional dress, attacking dolphins and whales in marine parks around America. Not even the Miami Dolphins football team survives. Stan, who is visibly upset at witnessing one of the killings, (His father holds him saying, “Hey pal, I’m sorry your birthday was ruined by the Japanese.”) declares that something must be done. None of his friends will help, but he gets a tip about a show that saves whales and will accept volunteers. Naturally, that series is Whale Wars and South Park doesn’t hold back on portraying it as show with zero drama. Within the first three minutes of Stan joining the crew, a beer-bellied Paul Watson is harpooned by the Japanese; with one of the SS crew members exclaiming, “Maybe he’s ok!”

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Stan, upset that the Sea Shepherd crew doesn’t do anything but throw butter bombs, takes matters into his own hands and ends up sinking one of the Japanese whaling ships. He then takes over for Watson as captain. Suddenly, everyone is totally into Whale Wars and its ratings skyrockets. Various magazine headlines proclaim “New Captain Turns Vegan Pussies Into Real Pirates” and “Whale Wars Gets Better: Things Actually Happen!”

I’ll leave describing every detail there and just let you watch it — but let’s just say that the Larry King segment is a vehicle to further lampoon Watson. At one point King says, “Their old captain, Paul Watson, was an unorganized, incompetent, media whore who thought lying to everyone was okay as long as it served his cause.” Ouch.

In the end, which includes a hilarious encounter with the crew from Deadliest Catch, Stan finds out that the reason the Japanese hate dolphins and whales so much is because they believe they were piloting the Enola Gay when it dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima. That’s what the Americans told them in the aftermath. To further his cause, Stan doctors a photo showing the plane was actually piloted by a chicken and cow. The Japanese then attack cows and chickens, with Stan’s father saying proudly to his son, “Good job, son. Now the Japanese are normal, like us.” See what they did there?

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What did you think of it? Too much? Good for a laugh? Let us know! Check out the full episode here.

About Michael dEstries

Michael has been blogging since 2005 on issues such as sustainability, renewable energy, philanthropy, and healthy living. He regularly contributes to a slew of publications, as well as consulting with companies looking to make an impact using the web and social media. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his family on an apple farm.

View all posts by Michael dEstries →
  • Brian

    Thi episode was simply epic, fenomenal, amazing and FUNNY as hell, but with a serious message. Loved it!

    • Kayne

      Hey Brian,

      Im really happy for you, and imma let you finish, but the Fishsticks episode was one greatest south parks of all time. OF ALL TIME!

      • TW

        LOL, That’s Great

  • WhaleShephard

    I assure you Whale whores offended the Japanese a whole lot more it was nowhere near even. I wonder if its ever gonna air in Japan.

    And everything didn’t tied up neatly with a message;

    The end message okayed whales and dolphins brutally slaughtered for food.

    That did not put the entire debate in perspective, it was already the perspective of whalers.

    • http://www.ecorazzi.com Michael d'Estries

      WhaleShepherd,

      The message that South Park presented, in my opinion, was that while some people will support the lives and welfare of one species, they’ll turn a blind eye to another. We’ll give money to save the whales, but how about cows, pigs, and chickens? Are their lives worth any less? Will you cheer on the Sea Shepherd but then chow down on a hamburger that came from a cow raised in factory farming conditions? What was their death like?

      Ask most people and they’ll probably tell you that they’re opposed to whaling. But how many of them are vegan?

      I support the Sea Shepherd b/c I believe the Japanese whaling motives are complete BS. Not to mention that our oceans are being tapped at an alarming rate and whales deserve greater protection. I didn’t come away, however, believing that South Park condoned whaling — and I certainly believe people need to examine further why they’ll get all teary-eyed over a whale, but not a cow.

      • Jim

        Michael,

        I couldn’t agree with you more.

      • http://thevegetarianblog.today.com Antonio

        I think the discrepancy between the way we feel about farm animals compared to dolphins and whales is well exposed. But what they do miss out on is that Watson is vegan, therefore he’s not caught in a contradiction. It’s the general American public who is.

      • Barry

        Paul Watson is not a vegan. He eats whatever he wants. Look at the guy without rose coloured glasses once, he’s too fat to be a vegan.

      • MSteff

        I disagree with you that he isn’t a vegan. I’m an overweight vegan because I don’t balance my nutrition, eat way too much bread/pasta and don’t exercise. I’m not proud – just trying to clarify that it is possible.

      • Downunder

        Barry, without realizing it, you just stated that eating meat will make one fat. Do you eat meat? If so then you must be fat….

      • Jason

        Am I the only one who sees the irony in juxtaposing Americans’ killing of over 200,000 Japanese PEOPLE with the Japanese killing of animals and getting blasted on a global stage? I don’t think the creators of southpark were out to bring attention to this “noble cause”, I think they probably side more with Cartman and Kenny on this issue. I’ll try to be concise:

        You killed hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians. Now you are furious with those same civilians for killing/consuming sea animals. That’s funny.

        Good satire holds up mirrors instead of pointing fingers, and that’s why SP is such a genius show. Anyone who suggests that Stone and Parker were trying to draw global attention to the whale crisis for humanitarian purposes definitely is missing the point. We don’t want to be held responsible for our own ethical failures, but we do want every other culture to think the way that we do. We’re the douches, not the Japanese.

      • Richard

        Wow Jason, you were so close to getting the point. But your own narrow-mindness through you just a bit off. They ARE clearly saying the Japanese are douches but they also want to clearly say we are douches too. Just classic South Park seeing the hyposcrisy in everyone.

      • Laura

        Michael,

        The message that South Park presented, in my opinion, was that while some people will support the lives and welfare of one species, they’ll turn a blind eye to another. We’ll give money to save the whales, but how about cows, pigs, and chickens? Are their lives worth any less?…

        To answer that question I would say yes, their lives are worth less.( I’m vegetarian btw) The cows and chickens that most of us consume are bred to be food. They are completely dependent on humans to live. Whales and dolphins are very intelligent animals, (they are far more intelligent than cows or chickens) that are captured for our entertainment. I’m not condoning factory farming, but the main reason I disagree with it is because factory farming is incredibly harmful to the environment. Whales and dolphins should not be given equal protection to cows and chickens, the state of our oceans is awful (partially because of factory farming), they deserve more protection.

        It’s great that people are opposed to whaling regardless of what they eat. If everyone thought Wow, I’m so hypocritical I guess since I’m not willing to go vegan my opinion doesn’t count…What good would come out of that?

      • Rilo Graves

        Um… What? Dolphins are intelligent (like top 4) and whales are endangered.

        It’s like hunting bald eagles,
        Whereas cows are raised for food,

        That’s why it’s retarded.
        (However Japan’s given us so much back, I can forgive ‘em :)

    • SPViewer

      I sincerely hope that it was a strong message to the Japanese to stop slaughtering whales and dolphins. Some of them may have considered it offensive, but considering the silliness of their game shows and their cartoons, I seriously doubt that they were offended much.

    • http://www.pioneerglobal.hk Mike

      Well this episode DID air in Japan.. sort of. I was in the Delta Sky lounge at Narita and watched this episode in plan view of all….. The looks were great. But after that whole Dec 7th thing.. well something had to be done.

    • Hail

      I am from Japan and I read reviews in Japanese. Most of the people loved the episode because this is making a fool on anti-anti-whaling. (Tho some who got no sense of humor thought it was offensive. Sad you probably only source the news and information in one language, that’s totally one-sided (biased) btw.

    • Laura

      This remark has been removed due to a violation of our commenting policy. — Ecorazzi

  • James

    That episode was awesome! F–K WHALE HUNTERS AND THOSE USELESS PIRATES WHO TRY TO STOP IT. THEY ARE NOT PIRATES THEY ARE PUSSIES! I LOVE YOU MATT AND TRAY!

    • dcnDPO

      Pussies? They are bringing the entire Japanese whaling industry to its knees w/o harmful tactics. And you consider them pussies?

      They have cut the whalers’ quota in half for the past several years and the poachers are super pissed at them.

      The SS know the best way to hurt the whalers is by hurting their profits – which they do beautifully.

      The whalers are currently in multi-millions of debt due to the fact that the SS prevented them from killing hundreds of whales over the past several years; they make apprx. $200k per whale.

      No, this isn’t a lie or an assumption. The EXACT season the SS started harassing and screwing up the poachers’ plans was when the poachers’ losses started exceeding their profits.

      The poachers know that this whaling season, which starts in a few weeks, will be the worst. Because, the SS have gotten more boats and have developed better tactics. The Japanese govt. have been pleading and begging many countries the SS work in to block their visas/passports, file them as criminals, and prevent their ships from leaving harbors – but, the Japanese have no evidence but their own hate, and all these tactics have failed and they will be hurting SEVERELY this hunting season.

      The poachers are incredibly pissed and furious because they have no way to jail the SS; because the SS do nothing illegal. Their tactics may seem cheesy and weak – but it’s working beautifully.

      Sorry, pussies can’t destroy an entire countries’ whaling industry.

      • charlie

        James, if that’s what you think then you ENTIRELY missed the point. Ugh, you’re just the kind of person I can’t stand, aswell as being EXACTLY who Matt and Trey were trying to take the piss out of! So much for being their biggest fan, huh?
        They were satirizing people like YOU who hate the whaling industry and what they do, but ALSO are so god-dammed arrogant and self-righteous that they think they have the perfect right to also satirize the very people who are getting off their asses to actually DO something about it! You really are moronic.
        While obviously making the show for entertainment for the simpletons such as yourself, they were ALSO putting an UNDERLYING MESSAGE for the population of viewers who actually hold the intelligence to see it. They were TRYING to lampoon the ignorant westerners who are stupid enough to hate whaling but not give a second though to their own disgusting methods of killing that contribute to their own food source, chicken and beef? I’m not a vegan or even a vegetarian, but I try hard to get my meat from free range sources. Your Burger King and Kentuky Fried Chicken do not live up to these standards, I assure you.

        God, I love this show. They’re actually really clever.

  • http://www.ascentofscandal.com/ Ari

    I have to say, it takes a lot to offend this Jersey bitch, but that episode offended me. I really try to have a sense of humor, especially in the face of all the atrocities I see and read about as a vegan activist, but to call the Sea Shepherds pussies is really crossing a line. Before you call anyone else a pussy, I think you should take a good look in the mirror and ask what you’ve done to make the world a more compassionate place. Paul Watson is the ONLY person willing to confront this issue head on. He’s a hero.

    There were obviously many other things in the episode that were in terribly bad taste and outwardly racist, but I pretty much expect that from South Park.

    • x13

      Well, Matt and Trey can easily look at themselves in a mirror, because they are compassionate. How? Well, what I love about their show is that I always feel that I am not alone in this world of irony and paradoxes. It’s very compassionate. Maybe you don’t approve that because of their extreme methods, but than, what’s the difference? Aren’t they doing something that is raising attention like this about touchy issues? Aren’t the same Sea Shepherd is the one who likes to do it a little more “extreme way”? And at what point you can’t say that the two above actually prove some point? Messy questions, eh?

      Be true. (N)

    • munro

      how the hell was it racist? We see many shows like family guy and the simpsons make fun of Irish for being drunkards or Germans for world war 2. In fact South Park seem to pick on Canadians more than anyone else. But I guess since most Irish, Germans and Canadians are white thats not racist to you.

      Many countries do stupid things and as a result get the piss taken out of them in popular culture, its a joke and infact should please the people being targeted because it brings some light heartedness to their cruelty or stupidity.

    • Barry

      Paul Watson or his Lakota name, Grey Wolf Clear Water? Watson is a huge pussy. He’s going to get people killed, then move on to something else. He’s a psycho with his own cult.

    • Tom

      I wouldn’t call the episode racist. I am a Japanese Canadian and I have no problem when someone pokes fun at culture. Anyone with a trace of a sense of humor would tell you to relax, it’s just a joke.

      P.S Paul Watson is a douche

    • Your a douch -pussy

      Obviously Southpark has correctly hit the proverbial nail on the head. You sir are exactly the type of person who they are lambasting, vegan pussy who takes offense at the slightest provocation and has no sense of humor because of your own douchiness. So why don’t you sit your pussy ass back down, have a beer and a steak and get the F**K off your high ivory horse and join the rest of the human race. Douchbag pussy.

      • http://care2.com Citizen

        Okay, before you go off and say shi-ot like that you have to really think about what you’re saying. This guy is working to better YOUR life in retrospect by helping to save the oceans. No oceans = no people. That includes people like you who leave loser messages dissing heroes.

    • MSteff

      I’m also a vegan and former supporter of Sea Shepherd. While I applaud Paul Watson’s dedication, the truth is he is an arrogant asshole. I’m glad South Park chose to take him down a notch.

      This show, as biting as it is, will still bring attention to the Japanese slaughter of endangered whales and the brutal killing of dolphins.

      The only thing I found offense was the use of the “P” word, but that is just me.

    • charlie

      The point of South Park is that the show as a whole pokes fun at POLITICAL CORRECTNESS. If you don’t get that…well, no wonder you feel insulted. For Gods sake Trey Parker actually GREW UP in South Park, and yet they are constantly satirizing the civilians that live there as being in an ignorant, moronic, white-bread town!
      You may say that about Matt and Trey, but they are in a position of power to actually HIGHLIGHT issues to the general public. We live in a society where people don’t like being lectured or made to feel guilty, but South Park can do this discreetly without offending people!
      Do you really think, that if they had just done an half-hour long episode about the controversy surrounding whaling, how it affects today’s culture, why it is done etc. etc. that so many people would have watched it? You may scoff, but if you scroll down and see how many people this episode has affected then you would realize how stupid you are to be offended. Even Paul wasn’t offended, so why should you be?

      • Travis

        Well, actually Trey Parker grew up in Conifer which is closer to Denver and Boulder than South Park, and, though not as generally rich as Evergreen, pretty close. So he didn’t really grow up in a white bread town. Matt Stone was born in Houston though, and then moved to columbine I think. Otherwise I pretty much agree with you but also I think you are taking it a little too seriously, sure it’s got a message but it is never YOUR message if you happen to be a hippie or a supporter of whaling. Hope that makes sense, I’ve been watching the show since season one when I was 12 so I kinda grew up on Matt and Trey’s humour.

    • http://care2.com Citizen

      I agree! Thank you for replying in such a way.

  • nell

    I love southpark always. But this was one of the only times I disagreed with their target – Paul Watson. Surely some people don’t like Watson, or his methods, but the guy has worked his whole life trying to make the world a better place, something most people can’t claim. I don’t think Watson should be exempt from criticism, but this episode is unfortunate for those who have never heard of Watson.

    • Barry

      Paul Watson would still be a homeless bum in Vancouver, BC if Greenpeace hadn’t taught him how to con stupid people out of their cash for causes he doesn’t help.

      • Marc

        Are you serious ? Does the guy look like he’s a closet billionaire ? Does he look like all the donations he asks for are just blatant profiteering ? Do you think he lives in a mansion with a private airport, pet whale sharks in a piano shaped pond, and a private egyptian style casino ???

        Honestly, you don’t need to do what he does to scam people out of money, and once you’ve scammed them you sure as hell don’t need to go and almost kill yourself in freezing cold waters while insecure little japanese men try to shoot you !!

        Personally, i’m a big fan of SS because they are actually doing whatever they can to stand up for what they (and millions of others) believe in.

        What are you doing Barry, other than sitting on your ass criticizing the people who actually take action ? Are you one of the fat f-cks who sits on the sidelines of a sports match yelling advice at the athletes ? Do you feel you have done something in this world to make you worthy of commenting on those who stand up for their beliefs ?

        Grow up – Paul is helping more than you are.

      • JayP

        Marc….very well said, thank you. My exact thoughts.

  • http://scottfoley.net Scott Foley

    That was one of the best episodes of South Park yet.

    • Marc

      agreed – but check out Margaritaville – especially the scene towards the end where the decisions are made about how to deal with the economic crisis

  • http://www.Seashepherd.org Captain Paul Watson

    I have to say that being lampooned on South Park is hardly something to complain about. They spelt Sea Shepherd right and they brought the issue of the dolphin and whale slaughter by the Japanese to a very large audience. I could not really care less how I was portrayed personally, I’m in good company along with Tom Cruise and Sean Penn.

    It’s a tough situation we are in. We can’t hurt the whalers and we have to stay within the boundaries of the law in opposing illegal whaling operations. If that makes us pussies so be it, it’s better than being portrayed as killers. The point however that was missed is that we have cut the Japanese kill quotas in half over the last three years and cost them their profits. Our objective is to bankrupt them and we are doing just that.

    South Park has however linked Japan to the horrific and senseless slaughter of dolphins and whales and all in all that’s a damn good message in our opinion.

    What the Whale Whores episode also achieved was to highlight just how successful Whale Wars has been as a television show and how Sea Shepherd is out on the high seas actually trying to do something about the problem.

    Captain Paul Watson
    Captain – The Steve Irwin

    • From MN, with hope…

      Paul, you are truly a great man. As long as the issue is brought to the public, then its good publicity. As the ‘ol saying “Any publicity is good publicity.” Paul I hope you the best out there this December. Their fleet has to be shrinking, maybe not in ships, but in personel, meenwhie your fleet has just doubled! One ship was hell for them, and two will be horrid. I have prayed for the slaughter to end. You guys have done nothing wrong, you have done right. Give ‘em hell Paul! Give ‘em hell!

      As for the episode who knew a WWII strategy would kill everyone on the ship. Two of my interests crossed in an episode of a show I dont even come close to caring for. All I can say is although they are closed minded and do NO research, they are pretty damn creative.

      Oh, and Paul, while you’re at sea when they say they’re doing their old “we’re down here for research” tape recording try asking them where their research is. 10 research papers in two centuries. They’re big time bull. Also, can you drop things form the helicopter? If not maye try climbing the mast to get bottles over the net on the Nisshin Maru.

      Throw one extra hard for me Paul!

    • Marc

      Paul, Well Said !!

      Matt and Trey have said in interviews that the definition of “discrimination” is to treat one group differently to another – therefore if they try to offend everyone equally, they are not discriminatory.

      The most important thing here is that the issues surrounding the whale and dolphin slaughter were taken to a massive global audience, as was the name Sea Shepherd and Whale Wars.

      Personally i found the background message brilliant – that the Japanese were killing these animals because of a crazy belief that they dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. To me, this is equally as believable as the “Research” that they claim to be doing, so South Park got it perfect – the Japanese _are_ killing whales and dolphins for a completely ridiculous reason.

      To the people above who wrote that the episode was unfair because it suggested killing Cows and Chickens was fine, but not Dolphins and Whales – you have *completely* missed the point. That final line where Randy Marsh says “now they are normal like us” is IRONIC (real Irony, not Alanis Irony) – it is pointing out that it is JUST AS BAD !! (I am personally torn on this, as i do believe that killing *any* animal is bad, however i do believe it is “worse” to kill an animal that is endangered and not replenished, so to speak – before anyone gets up in arms about it, that was an opinion!!)

      Back to Paul…

      As we know, and as the show proved, you and your crew are the ONLY ones doing something about this atrocity. No-one expects you to throw flares and bomb boats, because as nice as that would be, it would reduce us to their level.

      I wish you the best of luck on Operation Waltzing Matilda (i actually wish i could be on the Steve Irwin to serve with you), and i hope that you won’t have to continue doing this for much longer. Keep the pressure on them, keep the publicity going wherever you can get it, and keep your head held high – you deserve it more than most…

    • Barry

      You are not a captain. You run a yacht. You are a disgrace. When you get someone killed, I hope they lock you up in prison instead of the mental hospital you belong in. Get a read job loser.

    • Eve

      I think that they also made it clear that SSCS is NOT an eco-terrorist group as some would like to believe. I know that wasn’t the main message of the episode but it was one positive that I saw in it.

      However, I don’t understand that if the end message was that some people find it wrong to slaughter whales and dolphines but find it alright to slaughter cows and chickens…how are vegans pussies? Everyone is not equally offended in South Park because vegans have ever (that I can think of) been portrayed in a good light.

      • Travis

        You just don’t get south park. Vegans are pussies because vegans will always be pussies because they’re pussies. Get it? Whaling is bad because whales are dying out( along with the rest of the ocean, but I don’t see the sea shepherd protecting tuna) but still not as bad nuking two large civilian populations. Get it? It’s south park. Your last sentence makes no sense, are you asking a question? Yes, South park believes in “ethical writing”, making fun of everyone. Not making fun of everyone and praising everyone in equal fashion. That would be really really gay, sort of like scrubs.

    • Your a douch -pussy

      They did show that blocking tactics work and can frustrate the goal of whalers. The crew of the deadliest catch used these tactics against Stan and were effective until the whales pulled their ship away.

      They were more concerned with lambasting the use of TV and your desire for fame over the actual cause, showing you to be incompetent, and that the mission of the ship would be better served under leadership who cared about the whales more than their own personal fame and the TV ratings.

      Being in the same pool as Sean Pen and Tom Cruz is not a complement, it just ranks you in the top .01% of douche bags in the USA.

    • http://WWW.SWEDEN.COM Christian

      When I saw the first telivised season i thought that you were doing a pretty cool thing. But south park and it´s message were spot on. Be happy that there are a ban on whailing and let the “researchers” fish their quota and use all that money you are bringing in for something that really makes a difference. Why not fund an underground associacion against the Chinease communist regime. Thats not realistic, I know. But there has to be something else? Patrol tha somalian waters and shoot the pirats that the pussy navyships wont dare to even approach! =D
      Naaa, keep up the good work. But……………….. why…………. do you buy another boat made out of plastic whem u KNOW how much ice you are going to encounter??

  • Supporter

    Godspeed this season Captain Paul and crew of the Steve Irwin, with the help of the stealthy Ady Gil. We’re all behind you here in Australia.
    For the oceans!

  • someone

    I’m the only one who pay some attetion to the fact that usa nuke a city?

    Sorry but what kind of moral authority do you have to question anything?

    • SPViewer

      Yes, but don’t forget that the US nuked 2 Japanese cities in order to end the war that was started by the Japanese surprise bombing of pearl harbor, and by surprise, I mean without the declaration of war that was customary between civilized nations at that time.

      • ndaren

        Okay, so the Japanese (allegedly – there is evidence that it was not actually the Japanese who did it, but I won’t go into that) surprise bombed Pearl Harbor, killing ~2500 military personnel.

        The U.S. later responded by nuking TWO CITIES, KILLING AT LEAST 220,000 PEOPLE, MOSTLY CIVILIANS.

        I don’t care what happened in between those two events; our country has committed a horrible atrocity that it should be ashamed of forever and ever. There is NO justification for something like that.

      • SPViewer

        OK, ndaren. You just go ahead and choose to ignore almost 4 years of war between the Japanese (“allegedly” as you put it) starting the war by attacking Pearl Harbor, and the US bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Are you also going to ignore the Japanese kamikaze suicide bombers?

        First of all, whatever “evidence” that you claim to have that the Japanese did not bomb Pearl Harbor is nonesense, and secondly, the war would have continued for who knows how much longer, and with a much larger death toll on both sides if the 2 bombs were not dropped in August 1945. The European Axis powers had already surrendered 3 months earlier, and the Japanese were planning to continue fighting.

        And all of this has nothing to do with the Japanese using a “research” loophole in the international law that bans whaling, in order to slaughter these undomesticated animals for food.

      • Marc

        any maybe they should nuke another one and call it “research”….

      • hijklmnop

        SPViewer,

        It is easy to look at the issue from a completely US biased point of view. The fact is, every country is guilty of poor ethics. And yes that includes the one we live in, get use to it. Don’t live in denial. I’ll have to agree with ndaren, killing 220,000 innocent civilians is very very different from killing 2500 military personnel even if the Japanese did “ambush” us. But i guess we have never ambushed anyone else in history, right? Why didn’t we bomb Japanese military or the Japanese government? Many like to group one entire nation of people with their leaders in charge. Although i don’t condone what we did nor do I condemn those whose decision it was, I do acknowledge that in retrospect it was a mistake.

    • theron

      did you forget that they attacked us without provocation? it was a war and in war you do what you have to do to win. there are no innocent people,when it comes to war you kill as many enemies as you can until there are none left or they surrender.

      • Travis

        Yeah, those thousands of children under the age of five were “enemies”. Spoken like a true pussy who has never seen death.

      • hijklmnop

        Your argument is self contradictory. You say there are no innocents in war and you also say “you kill as many enemies as you can”. Are you suggesting that innocent people are enemies?

      • qrstuv

        yeah those 2500 sailors had it coming huh! after all it was “our fault” for being there; in fact, slavery? “our fault” the fall of rome? “our fault” the holocaust wasn’t done to Jews it was and continues to be done to the poor cows and chickens! and it’s all “our fault”

        yes, “ndaren and hijklmonp” you and jesse ventura have proof that G.W. Bush bombed “pearl harbor” and then went on to blow up the wtc… but remember first and foremost; it was all “our fault”

        but PLEEEEEEEEz won’t someone here speak up for the polar bears next? what about the kangaroo rats? the screaching cock roaches? omg… i am just so guilty… so… sooo… waaaaaaaaaah BANG!

  • http://www.monkeybutt.com Tommy vercetti

    Mr. Captain, I think you are completely missing the point here. Your point of view shows how self-absorbed you really are. The episode wasn’t exactly about Whaling, it is about most of us being hypocrites. I don’t think you need to dig deep into the episode to understand this point. The idea behind stopping whaling should be more humanistic. It is seems that most people who want to stop whaling only want to create a natural zoological museum.

    • SPViewer

      A natural zoological museam? Are you kidding? Dude, you are profoundly uninformed. Humanity’s outrageous population growth and the impact on climate is directly causing the extermination of many of the animals supporting the food chain that comprises our biosphere, our life support system! We still don’t understand the impact that species extinction will have on our survival. The only concern that I’ve seen is the recent alarming decline in the bee population that pollinates most of our food supply.

      Why don’t we all get accurate information before expressing opinions, so that we can have a productive conversation with informed opinions that actually lead to solutions!

      It’s not that difficult to use the internet to get informed. Start here:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction
      http://www.well.com/~davidu/extinction.html

      • god

        HAHA your sources are the internet and wikipedia…great well we know you are well informed :)

      • hijklmnop

        i dont think you need to be well informed to know that overpopulation in the human species can result in negative effects. take for example the amount of poverty, even if we were to egualy divide the amount of resources we have amongst everyone, we’d all be living in poverty. we have more people than we can support with our current rate of production. Thats just one example that can effect you or someone you know. The affect we have on animals is something that the animals have no control over. If we push a animal to extinction, we can no longer reap the benefits that that animal had provided for us. Its a domino effect that only will make our problems grow exponentially

  • anjali

    I just wish that they had shown the equally cruel and horrible slaughter of dophins and whales done by the Norwegians!

    • SPViewer

      Don’t forget about Iceland too.

      I agree with you, but South Park was primarily targeting the Whale Wars show this time.

  • SPViewer

    I loved this episode. South Park made everyone look silly. All sides of the debate got something out of it. It was provocative, and elicited an emotional response that was coated in humor. The music and the chicken/cow line at the end were excellent.

    On a serious note, let me remind everyone that chickens and cows are domesticated. They are bred in large quantities in captivity, as are pigs and turkeys. I doubt that many of these domesticated animals in their current state of health (homogeneously bred condition, pumped with steroids and antibiotics) would survive long in the wild. Whales and dolphins are not domesticated. They have languages and cultures. They teach their young how to communicate and survive through each successive generation, as many other animals do, unbeknownst to most of humanity.

    My personal response was that the show acted as a reminder that the Japanese are using a “research” loophole in the international law that bans whaling, in order to slaughter these animals for food. I was actually planning to purchase a Japanese car next year, but I am going to reconsider. FU whale killers!

    • Erica

      I have two Hondas, and they are great cars, and fuel efficient(40+miles to the gallon)
      Go with the Japanese car. The car industry is NO WHERE linked to the drive hunts, and neither are Yu-Gi-Oh, Nintendo, kimonos, and origimi. The day that whaling ends(even if it’s just in Japan) will be the happiest day of my life, but seriously, is a boycott on an entire nation the way to spread your cause. Your opposers will simply take this as an opportunity to claim that animal rights activists are racist snobs with no consideration for human rights.
      Besides, the car industry has always been a shady one. Henry Ford, American car entrepeneur, was also a white supremecist and Nazi sympathizer.

      • SPViewer

        Yes, seriously! I think a boycott of Japanese products is a perfect way to protest the Japanese using a “research” loophole in the international law that bans whaling, in order to slaughter these animals for food. I think a boycott starting now with this Christmas season would be great! People should use this South Park episode as an opportunity to remind everyone about this “research” loophole. Why do the Japanese need to eat dolphins and whales anyway? Aren’t they exterminating every other life form in the sea along with other nation’s fishing fleets? And continuing to slaughter dolphins and whales has nothing to do with your false claims of human rights violations or racism! When the Japanese stop killing whales and dolphins, I’ll be happy to purchase their products.

      • http://southernfriedscience.com SouthernFriedScientist

        For a conservation org protesting Japanese whaling, Sea Shepherd has a whole mess of Yamaha motors and Nikon cameras onboard.

      • b5200

        Sea Shepherd doesn’t blame companies with no connection to whaling or the Japanese people for the whalers. Nikon isn’t sending out the boats that kill the whales. Sea Shepherd does however expose comanies that are linked to whaling and other atrocious activities such as Furuno inc. and Mitsubishi(freezing large amounts of Bluefin Tuna to sell once they go extinct).

      • Marc

        Do it – i was going to buy a subaru but decided against it in my complete ban on Japanese products. It’s the only way to send a message to a country that condones, funds, and defends that disgusting “tradition”…

        Kamikaze, samurai and hari-kari were also parts of their tradition, but they didn’t defend those ones for so long !!

      • hijklmnop

        That’s a ridiculous solution. Don’t come up with a faulty solution to a problem just because you can’t think of anything better. It only diverts the problem. Boycotting all of Japan diverts the problem onto the innocent Japanese worker. You don’t think there are Japanese citizens that protest whaling in the same way US citizens protest things they don’t like in America?

  • Jenkins

    C’mon guys, don’t you get it? South Park is just trying to state that whale wars is a horrible show because nothing ever happens, and if they really cared about their cause they’d stick their necks out on the line to do something about it. Not be little vegan pussies.

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  • Lunatic with a big boat

    The Sea Shepherds aren’t pussies. They’re naive zealots. Paul Watson is a nutcase who is going to get one or more of them killed one of these days with his antics at sea. No doubt he’ll consider it acceptable collateral damage.

  • chrissy wolff

    I had hoped for greater things and was by the end of the episode completely offended. As someone who cares dearly about cetaceans
    the end of the “show” implied that they were just the same as farmed chickens and cows. It did not progress our efforts one iota and might have severely damaged them. Obviously it was hilarious in parts and poignant – typical South Park ( I like South Park generally) but this was just dipping at Discovery’s Whale Wars for commercial gain. Whilst in an ideal life I would love to be a vegetarian, I’m not, but I know the difference between “livestock” that produce multiple offspring and the cetaceans with their one, maybe two, calves a year. Whilst the level of sentience was vaguely addressed at the beginning it was lost at the end.

    This sort of discussion is always going to be a minefield.
    The trashing of Paul was quite shocking..why not ask where Greenpeace are now we really need them ( and they’ve got so much dosh…)

    I could say much more ..but for the time being this is enough.

    • Way to whine

      The show was not about whaling really, but about the a crappy reality TV show and one man in particular being a douche-bag and self promoting. It was about the hypocrisy and complacency of the average American, and how they view the rest of the world.

      But you are the same type of person they are harpooning, so of course you would take offense, ’cause you have no humor in your soul.

      • James

        You are an idiot – he is a canadian not american. Why would you blame americans?

        So uneducated these kids are.

  • http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9FD18926170ED901&search_query=earthlings Whoever…

    If SS and its crew do something, they’re eco-terrorists.
    If they aren’t tougher, they’re called pussies!

    What the F*** is wrong with all of you zombies? Wake up!!!

    You’re nothing but a bunch of coward zombies who hide behind a computer trashing everyone who thinks and acts outside the ‘box’.

    Whether you agree or not with SS’s tactics, at least they’re out there fighting for what they believe in, while you’re comfortably sitting at home insulting them over the internet. That’s very brave!!!

    What a disgrace humanity has become – a bunch of savages and zombies. No wonder we’re controlled and manipulated by the ‘powers to be’.

    Honestly I have lost all respect for humans and I believe we do deserve what’s coming our way for the next 3 or 4 years…

    Really, why don’t you go protest against the bankers and politicians who miraculously ‘came up’ with billions of dollars to save their asses while the majority of the human population is starving?
    Where’s the money to help those people?
    Factory farming murders hundreds of millions of animals each year for food and still hunger is increasing worldwide? What’s wrong with this picture?

    Wake up ZOMBIES!

    Oh and by the way, if you actually want to help our planet (and thus humans and non-humans alike) start by getting off your ass and do something to change things for the better.
    What about becoming veg*an? That’s a good start and maybe we can end this – http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9FD18926170ED901&search_query=earthlings – and allow more people to have the possibility of having enough food to feed themselves…

    Hey whalers, go play with your tiny d**** for a change an dlet whales live their lives in peace.

    Leave the Whales alone!

    Thank you.

    • Erica

      Whoever, I believe I can answer your question about world hunger.
      Americans, children and adults alike, are always helping themselves to more food then they will actually eat. Restaurants always serving supersized portions that fat people should not be eating and skinny people cannot finish. Tonight, millions of children will search the entire neighborhood for candy- tooth-rotting, nutrient-poor, sugar-ridden candy. They will show their winning to their parents, who will immediately throw out any suspicous items- bubble gum, apples, cookies, unwrapped candies, or anything that someone with swine flu handed out. When the inspection is finished, the children will sort through the candy and toss out the undesirables- Bit-O’Honey, tootsie rolls, and anything licorice. What is left they will finish within a few days. Not only does this create a surplus of waste from the wrappers, but all that candy, the food and alcohol at teens’ halloween parties, the popcorn consumed while watching scary movies, and the costumes that are only worn once- all of this is unecessary to human beings. And yet, while we have too much of this junk, the third world has too little. There isn’t a food shortage, but a food distribution problem.
      The solution to this problem is to get our extra food from us, to them but how to do it as efficiently as possible? If we wanted to end world hunger, that is the puzzle we must solve.

      • Marc

        you’re saying we should send a container of apples, tootsie rolls, licorice, and anything infested with swine flu to the impoverished nations ?

        sounds helpful :-)

    • brendan

      Low IQ people use the term “zombies” a lot, as 70% of low IQ peoples’ media intake is based on zombies. This person is obviously an offended vegan pussy, claiming a fairly limited-landmass nation that has lived on a seafood diet for millennia are “tiny dicked” for having such a diet. Those who have the luxury of living in a country with abundant land for farming and livestock, and a diet that matches, criticizing a country that has subsisted on seafood out of necessity for its entire existence is exactly what the satire is highlighting, as well as the unethical things done by said culture choosing to criticize other cultures ethics..

  • http://southernfriedscience.com SouthernFriedScientist

    In the end, the real problem with Sea Shepherd is that their tactics don’t work, and haven’t worked for their 30+ existence. 30 years later and Sea Shepherd has achieved none of it’s major goals. The philosophy of direct action doesn’t work because it vilifies the people who’s minds we have to change. Japan isn’t whaling for food. Japan isn’t whaling for profit. Japan is whaling for nationalism, and a few fouled props and publicity stunts won’t change that.

    Underwater Thrills have been covering Sea Shepherd’s failing for the last year: start here and work your way through – http://sharkdivers.blogspot.com/search?q=sea+shepherd

    And we’ve covered the issue ad nauseum at Southern Fried Science as well: http://southernfriedscience.com/2009/10/26/what-a-good-conservation-organization-looks-like/

    Direct Action is a failed conservation philosophy that needs to be abandoned. Sea Shepherd may save a few whales, but their actions guarantee that whaling will continue for the foreseeable future.

  • lolman

    yummy on rye bread with some mayo

  • GoGo Whalers

    All animals beside man is food in some situations even man is food :)
    Overfishing is wrong tho, what if your grand daughter could not be able to try the beatifull taste of dolphin, what a waste :)
    The intelligence of the animal is insignificant as we ourself are animals.
    (And do you know what animals do, yes thats right they eat eachother.)
    Man and beast? man is beast! Go lick your religions ass somewhere else darwin rules this milenium.

    On your nect fucking budda acid trip imagine a plane chrash high up in the mountains. YOU would be MY food then tree lover. (pherhaps the fucked up diet will have made you extra tender yummy.)

    Fucking survial of the strongest accept it or pherish.

    • http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9FD18926170ED901&search_query=earthlings Whoever…

      “All animals beside man is food in some situations even man is food”

      Aren’t you the primitive type? Apparently you still have the mentality of our primitive ancestors whose main concern was to hunt.

      “Go lick your religions ass somewhere else darwin rules this milenium.”

      Well, evidently evolution has passed you by! (BTW I’m not religious)

      “YOU would be MY food then tree lover.”

      Clearly your level of consciousness and evolution is extremely low (lower than the whales’) – do you think veg*ans are ‘soft pussies’? I would brake you in two before you could even touch me!! And then I would feed you to the ‘wolves’ because there would be no way in hell I would pollute my body with your toxic flesh…

      “Fucking survial of the strongest accept it or pherish”

      You and the likes of you are the ones who are going to be left behind in the evolution process. You belong in the dark ages, not in the 21st century. Your time is over!
      It’s just a matter of time… :)

      • ROFL

        LOL! Vegan pussy rage…

      • brendan

        Yeah, that was vegan pussy rage, but the original poster did sound blatantly retarded, although his main point that nature is nature and vegan pussies trying to “sanatize” it to make it more like Disney being misguided is spot on. While I will hate to see the whales go extinct, 99.9% of species have gone extinct during earth’s existence, so this statistically would be less than a drop in the bucket. The percentage out of all extinct species over time would be rounded to zero in calculus and be considered negligible in any scientific study. That being sad, it is still a shame for their species to go extinct.

    • lockerroom

      Obvious troll is obvious.

  • joe2323

    Does anyone know what whale actually tastes like?

  • charlie

    okay, about 60% of the people on this page are making me sick. You are EXACTLY the people who the episode were trying to satirize. The point of the ENTIRE episode, was to highlight how you are PERFECTLY HAPPY to hate whaling and its consequences, but PERFECTLY HAPPY to also lampoon and hate the people who actually GET OFF THEIR ASSES AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. They have managed to cut down whaling profits by HALF. They are not trying to KILL, INJURE, TERRIFY or ABUSE the people on board the whaling ships, a) because it is ILLEGAL, and if they did then they would have their asses hauled out of there, and b) because they don’t WANT to be Eco-terrorists such as the disgusting group known as PETA. They are actually making a difference to their cause, actually making a dent in it. They want to cut down the whalers profits until they stop, not just cause faceless violence and destruction which achieves nothing.
    Urghh, I’m so fired up about this!
    Matt and Trey KNOW this, which is why they take the piss of out them! Because at the end, the few people who actually GOT the ending would have realized that they were satirizing the Westerner’s who think its okay to judge what the SS do!
    Get off your asses and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, or sit down and shut the hell up. You know nothing, NOTHING, and you make me sick that you think you can pass judgment. Its ignorant Americanism at its best.

    • parkedsouth

      @charlie You seem to enjoy telling everybody that they have missed the point of the show – as if you’re the only one who understands it; even though you’re way off the mark.

      Matt and Trey made numerous points in this episode – and you’re focusing on only the final line of the show, and twisting it to suit your beliefs.

      A critical view was placed on the whaling industry – from Japan’s mis-represented motives, to the brutal fashion of the kills, to the impact on the environment. A clear point is made to raise awareness of whaling and denounce it.

      However the episode was focused more on the useless douchebag Paul Watson and his crew of vegantards on the SS. The love-in the people on this board seem to have for this man is sickening – this group of self-serving media whores is NOT helping anything but themselves. There are grade-school environmental clubs that do more good for the world than these idiots. I met a number of them when I visited their boat (before the TV show ever existed), and quickly re-thought my approach to environmental activism as I certainly did not want to be associated with these douches.

      Matt and Trey cast a reflection back on both sides of the whaling industry – critiquing those both for and against it, and throw in a healthy dose of contempt for reality-show tv-whores, and Watson’s approach of lying to further his agenda. Also – please post source verifying the claims regarding the efficacy of the SS (halving whaling profits in 3 years) that isn’t supplied by the Watson propaganda machine.

      Another potent message was revealed by the Japanese Prime Minister when he challenged the kids regarding their judgement of a foreign culture. What right does any other nation have to impose a belief system upon Japan, regarding the morality of their food supply. Considering the source of the outrage was a country which incinerated 200,000 civilians with atomic weaponry, the moral compass behind the outrage against whalers seems rather skewed. This view was enforced with the final line of the show – demonstrating the hypocrisy of industrialized farming techniques of domesticated livestock vs whaling.

      The victims of Matt and Trey in this episode are the Japanese whalers (and their society as a whole for supporting the practice); the apathetic people who take no notice or cannot be bothered to be aware of the consequences of whaling; the vegan pussies of the SS Doucheboat who are barely competent at sea and more focused on spreading propaganda and media-whoring themselves than on truly improving the world; and the ignorant Westerners who cast aspersions on the hunting methods of other countries while ignoring the unethical sourcing of industrialized domestic animal cultivation.

      However, your view that the show was satirizing critics of the Sea Sheppard seems like the wishful thinking of a vegandouche who doesn’t want to admit to how badly this episode ripped apart his point of view.

      Also – must admit the use of Poker Face was genius.

  • Davey

    The transposition of Lady Gaga (singing a song that is the epitomy of whats wrong with North American sensibilities) over the phoney staged whale wars is too much — question :D o we take our bs reality-phoney based debauched society too serious ? if Yes you are correct

  • Pete

    Just wanted to add that Paul is vegan, I’ve heard many interviews with him where he has said he is totally vegan.

  • clowntrigger

    It seems that several people are still failing to distinguish the significant difference between the culling of whales vs chickens/cows.

    Chickens and cows are farmed animals. Animals that can be fed, measured, rationed, and sustained by humans. Whales however, are wild animals, and it is virtually impossible to effectively ensure sustainable fishing/whaling practices when you can’t see/effectively control what is truly occurring beneath the surface.

    Harpooning whales is cruel, full stop. But I think the key reason people are so against whaling boils down to social responsibility. To selfishly deplete life from the ocean (brutally nonetheless),with no regard as to the welfare of our planet, wildlife and sustainability of our oceans, is not only excessively greedy, but negligent; particuarly as there are so many other forms of food available that people can eat to sustain life.

    For those on this post who are divers, you probably understand this more, as you have witnessed the devastation of reefs and sparse fish life that is clearly apparent in many parts of the world that were formally flourishing with sea life; shark populations included.

    Whilst there were some mixed messages in this episode, I think it’s brilliant that the slaughter of whales was brought into the spotlight to such a degree.

    It doesn’t matter if you think Paul Watson is a tool or you think people that eat chickens are hyprocites; if this show makes one more person in the world ponder the appropriateness and justification of whaling, then the episode has worked wonders for the planet and our own future existence.

    Thank you “South Park” for creating this episode.

  • freeman

    most comments here are amazingly idiotic.. that’s the whole point of the episode..
    they slaughter whales and dolphins for food and other products just like we do with chickens and cows. yet stupid westerners cry out on the poor whales without seeing the giant hypocrisy considering what we do to cows and how we kill them. while growing chickens in factories matrix style and slaughtering so many animals just to needlessly overfeed our population of fat thickheads who needs the biggest SUV to do 100m to go buy some more crap at walmart.
    its part of their economy and culture they did it for thousands of years..now we wake up and decide its wrong??

  • Prasan Samtani

    LOL @ people claiming the dropping the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the moral equivalent of killing innocent dolphins and whales. Thank god our military leaders weren’t politically correct wusses like this Jason fellow, or we’d all be saluting the Japanese emperor every sunrise. The comparison to cows and chickens is much more appropriate. If you knew about Japanese history during WWII, you’d know that the Japanese were no victims. Read up on Unit 731 and the rape of Nanking. There’s a damn good reason the US dropped the bombs on Japan.

  • Prasan Samtani

    Frankly, the only problem with SS is that they aren’t aggressive enough. A few undersea torpedos would resolve the issue, and would be a very compassionate way to end this slaughter of innocents.

  • Braap

    The two best parts of the episode:
    1. When the Japanese kamakazied the whales
    2. CAN’T READ MY CAN’T READ MY POOOOOKER FACE!

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  • Bucky O’Hare

    The point of the episode is that animal rights are absurd, and it’s further exemplified by people’s love for whales and complete disregard for cows and chickens, which we kill and eat without a second thought. That being said, many of the other comments understood the hypocrisy theme here, but have come to a completely different result by claiming all animal killing is wrong. Animals do not have rights. If they had the ability to reason and follow our laws and make decisions, communicate on an intellectual level, then they probably would have rights. Since they don’t and can’t follow rules of right and wrong or even laws with even less consequence set by a government, they don’t have rights. We can’t give a bear or a lion a trial for murder when they maul someone and we cannot make carnivores give up their instinct to hunt other animals if we deem it to be wrong. Forcing them to adhere to our rules would go against their nature and is completely absurd.

    • http://care2.com Citizen

      Although I liked the last part of your reply, I can not help but to say as a response to the first few sentences, do not be so ignorant. Animals do have rights that humans should take into account. The problem wth society and animals is that they are not respected, as they are viewed with that exact opinion. Humans need to understand that animals are equally as important, as they live lives and to kill them would be taking a life — murder. You did back up your point but I don’t totally agree with you.

      • brendan

        Don’t be so ignorant. Humans only avoid being killed, raped, or maimed by entering into a social contract that protects them against these things. We do not have the right “not to be murdered”, but in society, we enter a social contract whereby we give up our right to murder, rape, or rob others under legal penalties, and usually can count on others not doing these things to us for fear of legal penalties.

        Animals don’t have such social contracts and kill each other and other species regularly. When you can convince a lion or shark to agree to enter into such a social contract, you can come back and preach on this subject without sounding like a simpleton.

    • Guest

      I agree to some level. But animal rights are completely valid. They punish people for torturing animals and pushing wildlife to extinction. They improved the living conditions of animals in zoos and research labs. And they’re even more valid for animals of marked intellect such as dolphins, elephants, and apes. But animal rights must be considered for even the creatures who aren’t necessarily cute or bright. I’m disappointed by the treatment of what ends up in the grocery store. Meat is frankly better for you when the animal that it came from lived a healthy life. And I for one would feel much happier knowing what I put in my stomach was killed quickly and painlessly, and not forced to stand in a cramped box it’s entire life.

      What’s more, another thing that people forget is that humans are animals too. As Gandhi said ‘”The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

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  • Smokey

    I quote Cartman:”I don’t give a Fu@k about whales, so go and hug a tree.”

  • Sigh

    Wow, hate to comment long after the debate here, but it doesn’t bug me that the Japanese are hunting several apex species to extinction — it bugs me that ANYONE is hunting a species to extinction.

    * Domesticated cows are not near extinction. Causing needless pain and distress in their deaths is immoral, for sure, but irrelevent here. Whales are worried about because they are apex species, and will be made extinct, in the wild, in most of our lifetimes. Not to stop anyone from starving, but because a whaling crew wants a great paying job.

    * Rights? This isn’t an issue of rights, it’s an issue of destroying our own ecosystem, irrevocably.

    * Atomic Bomb? Really? Somehow our tactics in a war 65 years ago is relevent to the whales’ survival how? Read up on “Tu quoque” logical fallacy. As in:
    Americans say driving whales to extinction is wrong.
    Americans did something wrong themselves, too.
    So, whaling is not wrong.

    • brendan

      Sigh, either you are of low IQ or did not watch the episode. If you did, you are a bit too dull to pick up on the satire and point. If you didn’t, then ranting based on pure ignorance may be your thing, making anything you say irrelevant.

      Also, don’t quote fallacy definitions out of Wikipedia when you don’t understand them. Someone claiming “whaling is not wrong” only exists in your own mind.

  • Kate

    Most people don’t know anything about animals. And so comparing a cetacean (dolphin/whale) to a cow is simple for them. But cetaceans aren’t domesticated livestock, they’re species numbers aren’t inexhaustible, we’re not breeding them in pens. And they are vastly more intelligent than anything that makes it onto american plates. In fact they share many of the same traits that mark and define chimp and human intellect. Cetaceans have complex social structures, emotion, language, can learn and develop new hunting strategies intuitively and pass them on to others, etc. It has even been discovered that dolphins have names for each other, just like us, and some have incorporated tools for hunting purposes. They and other animals such as chimps and elephants are so similar to us it’s uncanny.

    Perhaps because it looks less like us than a chimp, we don’t question what happens to them as much as we do with our closer relations. But it and animal rights are something to think about. How similar intelligence-wise does the creature have to be to us before we’ll decide not to kill it?

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