April 1st was the start of the annual whaling season in Norway, one of only three countries that continue to defy the 1986 ban on commercial whaling; the other two being Iceland and Japan. Since Norway allowed whaling to begin again in 1993, nearly 10,000 whales have been brutally slaughtered. Contrary to what the captains in their 20 ship fleet would have you believe, the killing of whales is a cruel and brutal procedure that but for the fact that it occurs miles at sea, would sicken any decent human being who witnessed it. However, in an outrageous display of arrogance, intolerance, and stupidity, the Norwegian government does not consider such cruelty as sufficient grounds to halt this barbaric practice.
My ancestry is Norse and the male line of my family can trace our history in an unbroken line back to the first recorded Earl of Orkney, Rognvald the Powerful, a Norseman who lived in the 9th Century A.D. However, as this slaughter is once again being perpetrated upon these magnificent and sentient beings, I am not proud of my heritage.
And the irony in all this is that less than 5% of Norwegians eat whale meat. So who is the bigger fool; the Norwegian government that allows this unwanted slaughter to continue, or the other 95% citizens who enable it through their apathy?
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