Saturday, 04 July 2009
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Terror Ethics
If you don't follow the Animal Planet show, Whale Wars, I'm going to quickly boil it down for you.
1. Commercial whaling is illegal around Antarctica. This area is a whale sanctuary.
2. Japanese whalers get around this law by calling their whaling ships "research vessels" and their whalers "scientists". They still kill critically endangered whales. Whales that are *perilously* close to extinction.
3. Seeing as there is no whale police in these icy waters, an eco-conservation group called the Sea Shepherd has made it their mission to patrol the sanctuary and harass the hell out of any "research ships" they see hunting whales. They do stuff like throw stink bombs aboard whaling vessels, tangle ship's rudders with nets, and spray whaling crews with fire hoses. They may never sink a ship, but they do enough to throw the ship off schedule so that it misses whales, or has to turn back early for repairs.
4. Some call the Sea Shepherd an eco-terrorist group. Some call them heroes. For my own sake, I'm going to withhold my opinion on the groups' activities.
I just watched an episode in which the Sea Shepherd crew faced an ethical dilemma.
Low on fuel and supplies, the Sea Shepherd had been searching for a particular Japanese whaling ship for over a month. They finally found it.
The ship was in crisis. A whaler had fallen overboard into the frigid water.
The whaling ship was scanning the water with search lights for hours, but ultimately, they were looking for a body. At most, a human can survive an hour in the freezing water, even in protective gear.
The Sea Shepherd crew had a perfect opportunity to damage and even disable the whaling ship. This particular ship hunts aggressively, so disabling it would potentially save several whales from death.
I'll leave you in suspense about what decision the crew came to. What I want to know is what you would do in their position.
Is it ethical to attack a ship while it looks for a crew member that is most likely dead?
Is the attack ethical if it will ultimately save a species from being hunted to extinction?
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Comments (23)
That is a tough decision. I wouldn't know what to do if I was them.
If possible, I would either wait until they found their crew member, preparing traps and immediately launching them upon his safe return, disabled them beforehand and looked for the crew member or disabled them immediately and left and resumed search efforts later. However, there are some ramifications between the whalers and the eco-terrorists to consider. I'm pretty sure that sort of an act could push someone over the edge. A captain or maybe a best friend crew member. I"d be careful.
All God's creatures are valuable, but human life trumps animal life, at least in my book. Even though the man overboard was probably already dead, it seems their crew had already suffered enough for one day. Maybe it was God's payback for hunting the whales, and man's revenge was not needed.
@dispatches_from_the_heart - I fully agree with what you said.
I'd want to set up attacks that could stop them from killing the whales, and not activate the attack until the crew member was found. If that wasn't possible, I'd attack now and save the whales.
The crew member is already dead, those whales still have a chance.
If they were to attack while the Japanese ship was still looking for their crew member, it seems to detract from their greater mission... humanitarianism. If I were the Sea Shepherd, I'd help them find their crew member and hold onto him until the Japanese boat agreed to leave the whaling waters. Hostage? Maybe.. but I'd rather be held hostage by some animal lovers than die. Well, I, in particular, would rather be held hostage by some animal lovers than do the laundry.
But yeah, the way the Japanese get away with the anti-whaling laws is complete and utter bullshit. (being a diver, I'm particularly sensitive to assholes that kill marine life)
This is a fascinating story, and a reaaally difficult question. Ultimately, however, I wouldn't condone what they do.
Firstly, I would not harass the boat in this situation. I think when we begin getting into killing for the sake of others—playing with numbers, as it were—we play with fire, and I think murder is murder is murder is wrong, no matter what.
Now this is something of another question, of course, but I did want to say that part. I still believe they should help the whaling ship—I imagine the actions of both sides cause a deep animosity between them that only hurts the whales more. Helping them could help to heal that, and maybe allow each group to see the other group's side.
Lastly, I really feel you need to go through the proper avenues for this. Petition the government for support, make the scientist permit applications much more substantial (or...existent?) lobby for police—they can even become the police, since they're so willing (and able) to track down the whalers. They should also try and get some of these whales to safe waters where they can keep an eye on them and breed them, at least until the species is in less danger. That way, there's also less of a desperation to the situation, because they can control the extinction of the animal. It may take longer, but it's the right thing to do.
@sahel578 - Ha, your comment rocks.
If they were searching for hours, the guy was already dead. There can be no doubt of that whatsoever. Hindering the ships progress under such circumstances is hardly an ethical dilemma. Retrieving a corpse isn't a dire need.
Personally, I have trouble seeing value in the lives of people who are willfully morally bankrupt.
Well, if they spare the whaling vessel, then all whaling vessels will claim to be searching for a crew member to buy themselves time to spot their prey. But then again, if whales wanted to live so much, they should have learned how to use guns. So too bad for them.
I saw that episode, and I was so proud of their decision. I think that making the opposite one would have really made them look like terrorists. But come on, there needs to be a limit on how many whales can be killed for "research." That's total bullcrap.
I can't say that I'm fond of the concept of giving whalers a "time out" just because they're currently sad. They're doing a disgusting thing, and that's just not the way it works. However, I also understand that, because of the nature of what the Sea Shepherd is doing, continuing with an attack might have been too distasteful with the public which might make future missions more precarious.
I would have turned off the cameras and attacked the ship, then promptly resigned after reaching land. Whalers need to be stopped, and in a controversial situation I'd rather take action and suffer personal consequences than jeopardize the whale and the mission of the rest of the crew.
@sahel578 - Great comment!
Whoa, it almost sounds like TheTheologiansCafe wrote this post.. :O
Ironically I just came back from watching Animal Planet and saw commercials for that show... I want to see it so bad!!
I would hope that they stopped and helped search for the whaler who was overboard...even though it is pretty obvious he is head.
You can't be honestly compassionate about whales and not be compassionate about human beings who are in trouble...even if their activities are something that are reprehensible.
By stopping to search for the man who has fallen overboard...their whaling activities are already interrupted for now anyway.
So...what is "the rest of the story"???
Ruth Ann
To the first question, no. If I could help the search without risking my own life, I think I would. Also, it would give me some levergae in negotiations. Maybe they'd be so greatful and scared that they'd go away. That would be one ship taken care of.
If it would save the species from extinction, however, yes. It would be like an act of war. Those people on the ship were murderers. I do believe in compassion, even to criminals, but if all those lives could be saved from one attack, then it is ethical.
No and No
i don't think their impact is much. hope they didn't and I know many fishermen, this is rough stuff. One young kid I know wants to go do this, and I really wonder about the people who want him to endanger his life......when I really doubt it's effectiveness. NOT even to mention potential unethical aspects. crazy.
@Herrro - you got me. I'm really Dan.
Carlotta is just my alter-ego.
Great post, though it's an easy answer for me. I would help the whalers find their crew member, gain some credibility and hopefully an opportunity to negotiate, then when everyone's safe and it's fair game, continue the work of saving whales. The Japanese know they are doing the wrong thing. Otherwise they wouldn't go to so much effort to maintain their slaughter via the loop hole of 'scientific research'. I fully support the efforts of the Sea Shepherd and take my hat off to their dedication, proactivity, and brave tenacity to save a species from extinction.
I wouldn't attack a ship looking for a missing crew member, dead or alive.
I don't like the show, Amianls where given to man to use ( I'm not saying abuse of animals) I would like to see the Japanese sink that stupid ship.