July 12, 2012

Not so good of a day today, guys. Have any of you ever been completely in over your head at work? Like it's so intellectually far-fetched that you feel like you're 4 years old compared to your co-workers? Well, welcome to my world. 

I just started working in the chemistry department of my university doing research in the summer. I just finished my freshman year, so it can't get more complicated than that. It's pretty hard core, I must say. I don't want to dwell on the negative aspects of the job, because believe me there are many; but I want to look on the bright side. Be positive. Be that grotesquely happy person that you know deep down they're about to burst of fakeness. Maybe being fake-happy will eventually turn into real-happy, if that makes sense...

Sorry for the sob story, y'all, but it's my blog. I gotta tell you guys what's up. Let's get back to what makes me real-happy: whales! 

Yesterday I left off with their numbers going down and such. The IWC, or International Whaling Commission, was formed to help these guys stick around and not be hunted to extinction by humans. Now, there are some laws that have been made by the IWC. One, probably the most famous, is the 1986 moratorium. It's all about stopping (or at least pausing) commercial whaling for some time. If that needs to be changed, heaven forbid, then the committee would vote and yada-yada. 

"But wait, why are there still whale hunters out there? Isn't that, like, against the IWC law?" you ask me. Two words: Commercial whaling. Let me say it again: Commercial whaling. The law prohibits commercial whaling. What about whaling for scientific research? Or whaling for sustenance of a people? Here is where the disputes and accusations start flying.

Let's give an example. The biggest drama producer. The Mac Daddy, shall we say. Japan. Researchers in Japan, funded by the government of Japan, go out annually and actively kill whales (by harpoon method) to retain samples and biological data. What do you think about that? Killing whales for the advancement of science. 

Here are some questions to mull around in your noggin. Are we getting sufficient data from these whale deaths? If you agree with killing whales for science, how many whale deaths are too many? (Most whale species are endangered.) Are these whales "killed humanely," if there is such a phrase? 

I will show you more of the drama tomorrow! Getting good, isn't it? Bye!