"Whales have become symbolic of efforts to live in harmony with nature. Scientists say that hunting for selected species will not drive them to extinction, but for poets and the public this is beside the point. It is time to leave the whales alone."
Editorial, New Scientist, 29 June 1996
"We are many that have been fighting for a long time for the principle that the conservation and sustainable use of seals and whales is in no way different from the conservation and sustainable use of other living resources ... I think that the drift to enforce upon other people one's own emotional attitudes ... gradually will yield to respect for other people's right to live their life in harmony with nature.
Prime Minister of Greenland, Lars Emil Johansen, addressing a whaling conference in Reykjavik, March 1, 1997