Scientific data suggests that when the International Whaling Commission in 1990 reviews
its current moratorium on all commercial whaling, it will be clear that at least some
species of whales could easily sustain a resumed, strictly-regulated harvest, without
threatening species survival. Therefore, now is an appropriate time to face and discuss the
moral and ethical issues involved in the commercial harvesting of whales. Knowledge and
attitudes about whales have expanded and changed greatly over the past 40 years. A
world ethic has already developed that it is morally wrong to kill any species of whale to
extinction. Since whales inhabit the global commons of the sea and do not belong to any
one nation, their management must be decided in the global arena through the established
agency of the IWC.
There are a variety of ethical grounds for opposing whale harvesting. It is argued that
whales should be managed by the IWC under a regime of permanent protection because
they are uniquely special. Whales are special biologically, ecologically, culturally,
politically and symbolically. However, the strongest reason not to resume harvesting
whales may be the unequalled and all but universal emotional response engendered in the
human heart by whales alive. Cetaceans increasingly appear to seek and gain satisfaction
from friendly encounters with humans, suggesting mutual enrichment as a common goal in
human/ cetacean relations in a modern world.