3.4
Summary and Conclusion
The above has shown that marine mammals have been important contributors to
human societies since time immemorial. While I have only used pinpointed
examples, wherever marine mammals and humans have interacted, marine mammals
have been hunted. During the time of the industrial revolution and during the
twentieth century, this led to overhunting. Although driven by economic greed,
the commercial and non-commercial hunts for marine mammals are important
markers of local identity and history. This does not only count for aboriginal hunters
and their deeply enshrined cultural history, but also for whalers and sealers that are
considered ‘commercial’ under contemporary international discourse. Whether,
from the outside, commercial marine mammal hunts can be considered within
contexts of identity and culture is up to you, the reader, to decide. What I hope to
have achieved with this chapter is to show that marine mammal hunting is a complex
matter with significant social and historical dimensions that are often ignored.
Since this book is merely an introduction to the topic, this chapter is far from a
complete ethnography on marine mammal cultures. If you wish to know more about
the cultural dimensions, I encourage you to delve into the depths of the literature,
some of which I have either directly referenced to or which I provide in the ‘Further
Reading’ section.
References
Anonymous (2015) Taiji’s cultural heritage. City of Taiji, Taiji
Boas F (1888/1964) The central Eskimo. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln
Einarsson N (1990) Of seals and souls. Changes in the position of seals in the world view of
Icelandic small-scale fishermen. Mar Anthro Stud 3(2):35–48
FAO (2017) Microplastics in fisheries and aquaculture. Status of knowledge on their occurrence and
implications for aquatic organisms and food safety. FAO, Rome. http://www.fao.org/3/ai7677e.pdf
Itoh M (2018) The Japanese culture of mourning whales. Whale graves and memorial monuments
in Japan. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
IWC (2019) Whale Watching Handbook. https://wwhandbook.iwc.int/en/
Kagawa-Fox M (2012) Japan’s global environmental policy. The conflict between principles and
practice. Routledge, Abingdon
Kalland A (2009) Unveiling the whale. Discourses on whales and whaling. Berghahn Books,
New York
Kerr J (2014) Greenpeace apology to Inuit for impacts of seal campaign. https://www.greenpeace.
org/canada/en/story/5473/greenpeace-apology-to-inuit-for-impacts-of-seal-campaign/
Kishigami N, Hamagushu H, Savelle JM (eds) (2013) Anthropological studies of whaling. National
Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
Krupnik II (1987) The bowhead vs. the Gray whale in Chukotkan aboriginal whaling. Arctic 40
(1):16–32
Morikawa J (2013) Whaling in Japan. Power, politics and diplomacy. Hurst & Company, London
Orwell G (1945/1951) Animal farm. Penguin Books, London
Russell L (2012) Roving mariners: Australian aboriginal whalers and sealers in the southern oceans,
1790–1870. State University of New York Press, New York
References
55
Summary and Conclusion
The above has shown that marine mammals have been important contributors to
human societies since time immemorial. While I have only used pinpointed
examples, wherever marine mammals and humans have interacted, marine mammals
have been hunted. During the time of the industrial revolution and during the
twentieth century, this led to overhunting. Although driven by economic greed,
the commercial and non-commercial hunts for marine mammals are important
markers of local identity and history. This does not only count for aboriginal hunters
and their deeply enshrined cultural history, but also for whalers and sealers that are
considered ‘commercial’ under contemporary international discourse. Whether,
from the outside, commercial marine mammal hunts can be considered within
contexts of identity and culture is up to you, the reader, to decide. What I hope to
have achieved with this chapter is to show that marine mammal hunting is a complex
matter with significant social and historical dimensions that are often ignored.
Since this book is merely an introduction to the topic, this chapter is far from a
complete ethnography on marine mammal cultures. If you wish to know more about
the cultural dimensions, I encourage you to delve into the depths of the literature,
some of which I have either directly referenced to or which I provide in the ‘Further
Reading’ section.
References
Anonymous (2015) Taiji’s cultural heritage. City of Taiji, Taiji
Boas F (1888/1964) The central Eskimo. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln
Einarsson N (1990) Of seals and souls. Changes in the position of seals in the world view of
Icelandic small-scale fishermen. Mar Anthro Stud 3(2):35–48
FAO (2017) Microplastics in fisheries and aquaculture. Status of knowledge on their occurrence and
implications for aquatic organisms and food safety. FAO, Rome. http://www.fao.org/3/ai7677e.pdf
Itoh M (2018) The Japanese culture of mourning whales. Whale graves and memorial monuments
in Japan. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
IWC (2019) Whale Watching Handbook. https://wwhandbook.iwc.int/en/
Kagawa-Fox M (2012) Japan’s global environmental policy. The conflict between principles and
practice. Routledge, Abingdon
Kalland A (2009) Unveiling the whale. Discourses on whales and whaling. Berghahn Books,
New York
Kerr J (2014) Greenpeace apology to Inuit for impacts of seal campaign. https://www.greenpeace.
org/canada/en/story/5473/greenpeace-apology-to-inuit-for-impacts-of-seal-campaign/
Kishigami N, Hamagushu H, Savelle JM (eds) (2013) Anthropological studies of whaling. National
Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
Krupnik II (1987) The bowhead vs. the Gray whale in Chukotkan aboriginal whaling. Arctic 40
(1):16–32
Morikawa J (2013) Whaling in Japan. Power, politics and diplomacy. Hurst & Company, London
Orwell G (1945/1951) Animal farm. Penguin Books, London
Russell L (2012) Roving mariners: Australian aboriginal whalers and sealers in the southern oceans,
1790–1870. State University of New York Press, New York
References
55