For years, whale oil was used as lighting fuel, industrial lubricant, and the main ingredient in (yum!) margarine. Whale meat was also on a few menus. But today, demand for whale products is at a historic low. And yet some countries still have a whaling industry. We find out why. (Part 2 of “Everything You Never Knew About Whaling.”)
This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
This podcast dynamically inserts audio advertisements of varying lengths for each download.
As a result, the transcription time indexes may be inaccurate.
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Joint chiselers. Today.
I've never eaten whale. As far as I know have you. Yes, I'm afraid if I dare to say that on american radio, but I guess I have your in past bag,
is an economic historian. At the norwegian school of economics in bergen bargaining
second largest city in no way
five years ago or more. It was a capital of norway and the people in bergen. They tend to think that there are still the capital must bear greece,
they retired from his teaching position. Actually
always mandatory as I'd turn. Seventy! That's a mandatory age of retirement. You have more time
were willing expeditions at least not wailing expertise
but maybe expedition. So I go to antarctica once in a while to at least study waving heritage. There. I've been actually for thirty years now involved with industrial archaeology programme.
In antarctica, especially these seven toxic island of south georgia,
was for many as a century of antarctic wailing.
So bass bags primary activity around wailing is research, but, as we heard
He has also eaten his share. It takes quite good if you put it on the
on the barbecue on the grail debts,
like a beef. Those tasty
you can also eat. It
kill slices roars, arpeggio sort of perpetual. Yes, where
we as kids have the whale meat served by our mothers. We didn't like it very much. It had sort of a cod liver oil taste. It depends very much how you treat it. If you go to jail,
I remember I saw book of recipes for whaley in japan,
There were several hundred the recipes and they are using every bits and pieces of the way
in a very different way than we are. You stood here in norway,
although whale hunting has happened for centuries in just about every place near an ocean today, there are just three countries: were commercial. Whaling is still practised: norway, japan and iceland, but is no longer a big business,
away today has only about a dozen wailing ships which taken
five hundred wales a year in our previous,
So did we learn how big the wailing industry used to be, especially in nineteenth century america? This was early. Capitalism unleashed on the high seas,
it was an extremely lucrative and important industry, but by the law,
nineteenth century. The american wailing industry collapsed way
oil had lit the world for decades, but it was being replaced by fossil fuels and eventually electricity. As for
were the meat, while american
never took two whale meat, but the biggest driver,
the? U s. Wailing collapse was the dynamism of the american economy, retirement
new jobs, the paid better and were safer
working on a whalebone, but when america faded,
the scene, commercial whaling didn't end in fact, got bigger and bigger
well into the twentieth century, the jobs just when elsewhere in terms
the national economy, was substantial for them,
an economy for some years today,
Freakonomics, radio, we continue,
Our series, everything you never knew about wailing. First, we find out what it was
that, made tiny norway, a world leader, big thing about these whales. They tend to sink quickly.
Why most countries abandoned wailing and why the outliers didn't
They just saw this as another swing again,
in a long string of them from the west, and will
here from the whales themselves. There actually singing songs, seriously song
hmm
I'm here,
this is broken.
Ex radio the podcast but explores the hidden side of everything. With your host
Stephen dubner, the
the international whaling commission were I w c is a volunteer body responsible for the management of whaling and conservation of wales. That mission
essentially translates into a global moratorium on commercial whaling, norway,
japan and iceland dont abide by this moratorium. Whales are also still hunted by indigenous groups in the: u s: canada, russia, greenland, indonesia, Saint Vincent and the greens and denmark in those places whale products, typically, arts.
hold on the open market in the
w c considers indigenous hunting a sustainable practice
among commercial whalers. Norway remains the largest, and they too,
hey there. Whale hunting is sustainable. The fact is, there isn't much demand for their whale meat,
in norway or elsewhere, and what about the ethics here?
again is bjorn barbaric. I've decided never to take
the strong position on this. At all. My perspective on the weighting industry is too
I do understand the history em to explain it. Historically, Norway did abide by the international whaling commission moratorium on wailing until nineteen, ninety two, but then left or chose,
to no longer honoured that agreement? What can you tell us about that? Well, that was obviously very controls
showed internationally and the protests were huge. I think the norwegian ministry of foreign affairs had a very difficult time in a sort of
candy the norwegian position, the refuge campaign circles in your car
yeah, especially but also all over the world, but the governments you at the time was that this was in it
this trade with a history it sustainable and it was almost compared with
dishes wailing in greenland in Alaska. You know which is still going on since it
demand for whale meat or well oil. Why
is there still any wailing in Norway, I've read one reason
maybe that wales eat a lot of herring norwegians also need a lot of herring in Norway wants to keep the herring supply huh
by limiting the whale predators. It is that true, it could be an argument, but I've never really heard that, and I don't think that's a well justified
argument. I think a main justification in Norway is that is still an interest in those communities to keep on with it.
The street, and the government has said that it's fine
boss himself comes from one of these communities. A small coastal city called stand, a
It is coat of arms shows, alone, whaler, standing on the prow of a ship harpoon,
in his arms. That was,
in a way the new bedford of Norway, the wailing capital, their new bedford massachusetts was at one time the capital of america's wailing industry and accordingly, it was the richest city per cap.
In the u s, as for sound a fjord and bjorn boss bag, I grew up
Nineteen sixties in the industry was in decline and it was never an alternative for me to become available. I studied at the business school and I developed an interest for economic history.
Is it about wailing as an industry that particularly pills to an economist well
as any industry. There are all sorts of interesting questions, of course, but I guess my interest was, although I may
The economist it was the technology, I think, pardon my
prince, but when I think of whaling I know probably about as much as the average person knows about wailing, which is to say very, very, very little and I
necessarily think of whaling and technology going together. Plainly
I am wrong it Mary.
And wailing cosette was rather primitive in terms of technology, with a wailing ship out there on the ocean and then the rowing boats and harpooner, and rather simple the struggle with a whale. What has been called modern wailing? My colleagues now we'd like to talk about it.
or as industrial wailing is also modern, anymore gay. But at the time of course, it was modern and my thesis
was about wailing and patents and that in a way I have stuck with their ever since and, of course, patents, that is about technology and inventions and innovations. This new technology was about to
soy steamships, which had not been used in wailing,
the actual catching then involved a very powerful, large harpoon cannon and one can say without explosive grenade that kill the whales
very, very different from the old style wailing. This harpoon cannon was invent
in the eighteen, sixty by a norwegian wailing magnet named spin foine, so exactly at the time
The americans were abandoning wailing in the late nineteenth century. There norwegians were taking it up and establishing
we know today as the modern wailing industry, and that is Eric hilt and Mary
an economic historian who also specializes. In
economics of whaling. So they do that
needed to use very different methods, and you produce different products, while americans had hunted across the atlantic and pacific ocean
the supply of wales there had fallen, the norwegians with their powerful steamship
hunted all the way down in antarctica. This offered a news
supply of wales that were even bigger than what the americans hunted the norwegians when, after
back wales and the biggest mammal of all the blue air
the american wailing industry couldn't touch it. If they manage to harpoon it. It would do.
drag them away forever. The americans had a name for being drowned.
Across the ocean by harpooned whale, they called it a nantucket sleigh ride. They could drag the whole wailing ship. The other thing about these wales is that they tend to sink
Equally, the americans would kill us branwell of toward back to the vessel. You couldn't do that very easily with this gigantic
We also do not only need a cannon, but you need some kind of powerful device to actually bring the whale carcass up.
well, they had a sort of host. You just stick it in the whale deaths, stuck it into the way,
it s basically and then there's some kind of pump on the wailing ship. The pumps air, through the hose in
the whales are blowing
but balloon essentially very marcel
ooo.
The norwegian wailing industry kept innovating by the early twentieth century. They built huge wailing ships that boss bared calls floating factories. These were accompanied by ten or twelve smaller ships. There were deployed to kill whales and hold them back to the big ship
process. The whale oil, the factory ships, was like an average oil tanker at the time. Fifteen thousand Tom's twenty thousand tonnes, no technology,
usually travels quickly, especially in a competitive industry, with his money to be made. Why did the? U s, willing and
It may be other industries not adopt these new,
norwegian technologies. Well, first other countries did adopt,
or what was not alone in the twentyth century it. But
nor was formally as the largest nation, but britain was I've come
a teacher and business partner, also intervention
Japan, develop this industry post well
to germany was large and into warriors the soviet union, but the americans,
ever really developed an interest. I should say for the industry the american way
entered the nurse. They just diverted their interest in
other industries, and that had to do with more macro trends in the development of the american economy
here- is another way to put it. America was getting too rich to bother with wailing, especially the
big investors and entrepreneurs by the law
nineteenth century there is more money to be made in coal and petroleum and steel in railroad.
In real estate, media and telecommunications. So
the. U s was moving forward fast in all those industries
about norway, not so much norway,
did eventually discover its own big oil reserves and that's why norway is rich today, but that wasn't until it
eighteen sixties. If you look back to the eighteen sixties, nowhere
poor country with low wages it had a low standard of living.
And the availability of inexpensive oil and also meet was very attractive to them, and so it was
norway's wailing fleet became the largest in the world. Waiting was
opportunity for when
alternative was unemployment rate. It in terms of
national economy. It substantial
for some years they earned foreign exchange because most of the products were sold.
For some. Yes, the revenues from wailing was larger than from the fisheries. You have any idea what she
here of gdp. The wailing industry may have represented at its peak
economies. I shall give you a very precise figures about between five and ten percent. I ve never more than that, but that is substantial for one particular industry. The product was always about oil whale oil, as we heard in our previous episode had been
for decades as alighting fuel and as industrial lubricant by the twentieth century. Demand was falling since there were other cheaper products on the market
but the wailing industry found other uses for its oil, the main buyers, so the way oil throughout the winter century was large
companies in europe, like your unilever in the united states like procter and gamble that process the oil further and sold it to well modern industry. That's right
whale oil was a main ingredient in everyone's favorite twentieth century butter substitute margin, so that was read the main product
whale. Meat was never really I'm product as such, that was always very marginal. Okay, so the
less of the whale, was simply more valuable for its oil value than its meat value o differently,
but soon enough whale meat did become more valuable, at least in some places, and all it took was a world war, so after old were to Japan is not a good shit, so off too
Can we go right after this break? I'm saving governor and you were listening to for economics, radio.
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When Japan surrendered to the allies in nineteen forty five putting an end to world were to a mere
in forces under general, douglas macarthur occupied Japan and took the lead in rehabilitating the nation. Japan is not a good shit. Obviously, people are starving, literally that's J,
master, an american journalist and doctoral candidate who lives in Japan, it was a first will country that has just been smashed because the war so they're very hard up for food and proteins
mrs and they don't have a long history of eating meat. So macarthur ordered the japanese to go all in on whale hunting.
There was at least a little bit of self interest. Here we are
will help alleviate japan's village or aid and ultimately same over twenty million dollars romantic intact era. It's not exaggerate
this say that will save the country for a few years just to actually feed the hungry nation that was recovering and at that time,
also served in school lunches, but there was a problem just as well meet became a critical component of japan's recovery. The world was running out of wales. Well, numbers were down to one hundredth one thousand of what they were,
at the peak. All the technology that had gone into wailing. All that
mechanization in industrialization it had decimated
the global wailing population during the
when he had century alone an estimated three million whales were killed led by norway, Japan, the soviet union and britain. But plainly that couldn't continue, and this is what led in making forty six to the establishment of the international whaling commission fifteen
the biggest wailing countries got together to regulate how many whales could be killed in the beginning. The eight w c is for the orderly development of the willing industry. So it's a very pro wailing pro into
three organization, where group nations get together and try to figure out how to preserve this resource, the eye
you see today is an anti wailing organization. It advocates for a total ban on commercial whaling, but back then it was trying to reach
a happy medium. The problem
they didn't have any real power to tell a given country how many whales they could kill. Instead, the eye
W c set a global quota. In this add an unintended and perverse consequence. They called the willing olympics because these fleets to go out and catches many big wheels they could as fast as possible. The nineteen sixties turned out to be
peak of global wailing. Some species were by now close to extinction, including the right whale. The humpback and the blue whale
but then
began to change for the whales
and
If you are around we back in agent, seventy, you might remember a record album called songs of the humpback whales. It was a pretty big hit.
remember that national geographic included disk of forty five inside one,
their additions, and so that people can listen to her
whale songs that is kate, o connell she's, a
policy adviser with the animal welfare institutes when the oldest conservation groups in the- u s, Iraq,
We singing songs, they think they're captivated
imagination of people around the world, o connell, says
I also shifted the public's thinking toward whales by showing the complexities of their behaviour. There
eyes of this pro whales sentiment fit in nicely with the rise of the conservation movement generally. This was in europe.
the value of clean air and clean water, was becoming more
visible and more important. There was also the sense that preserving whales rather than hunting them just made sense, given how the global economy had evolved
Humankind had found cheaper and easier sources for fuel and food. So why don't we just celebrate the whale as beautiful, free animal in nineteen, seventy, the folks singer
Judy Collins recorded a traditional whale hunting song with backing locals by the humpbacks
we're ready ages,
the hopes to
in,
hunting. Soon, after the? U S, band commercial,
wailing under the marine mammal protection act,
and the new environmental group greenpeace made its mark
by launching a movement called save the whales
always has been my lifelong ambition to eradicate wailing from the planet that is Paul watson, a self described eco warrior. We met him in the first episode of the series back and nineteen seventy five when.
was with greenpeace. We intervened against the soviet wailing fleet in the pacific ocean.
Watson was on a ship that tried to stop a soviet ship from killing a whale.
and food, this large bull whale and he turned his head-
right underneath us and threw himself up at the bow of the soviet vessel, and they were waiting for him and pull the trigger sent an explosive harpoon into his head and whale fell back.
into the water ruling.
Agony on the surfaces blood every
and I caught his eye and suddenly he deauville
straight towards us. He came up and out of the water at an angle so that the next move as to fall down and crush us
and as its head rose up out of the water, and I looked into his eye, which is right there. So close. I could see my reflection of myself in that I, as he rose
but of the water. I felt that the well understood
we are trying to do because I can see the efforts he made to pull himself back and he began to sink back into the sea. As I disappeared beneath the surface and he died, he could have killed us and
not to do so well
The whale actually chose to not kill. Paul watson isn't something that we can fact check anyway, but also coming to thinking. Why why,
where we killing those whales. The surveys for killing sperm whale, sir sperm seti oil and sperm oil. There not edible and then
primary use, for that was in the construction and maintenance of intercontinental ballistic missiles. This is something we can fact check. It is true.
that the soviets used sperm whale oil for military purposes, but they also killed lots of other kinds of wales, mostly to comply with the directives of their centrally planned economy there.
Wasn't much demand for whale oil or meat in the soviet union, but you can see why an activist lake Paul watson might find it attractive to combine whale
saving with military disarmament- and I said to myself here
are destroying these incredibly beautiful intelligence self aware sentient beings for the purpose of making a weapon meant for the mass extermination of human beings, and that's when it just struck me
we're insane. So I said to myself and then on in I'm going to do
for them not for us, but for them, news of Paul watson's encounter with the soviet ship helped drive the save the whales movement but watson's confrontational tactics. Weren't well received within greenpeace.
He was ousted by their board. He continues to use similar tactics today, under the name of the captain Paul watson foundation. He says that direct action like
your fearing with wailing ships
even sinking a wailing ship is justified by the horror of wales
in our bottom line, as we don't hurt anybody,
the strategy called aggressive nonviolence, I'm here.
to know whether you interact or have interacted much with whalers directly and tried to understand their perspective.
I've had many sit down debates with whalers ex whalers in australia, whalers in norway. Many at the international whaling commission, nobody
an easy just refuse. We try
our ourselves for months to sit down
with whalers to hear their perspective, apparently
The few remaining commercial whalers are so used to
their industry portrayed as barbaric that they avoid speaking publicly. We did
Finally, here from one norwegian whaler who may be willing to speak with us, but that came to wait for this episode, that interview does happen will let you know
In the meantime, we will get back to jay alabaster to hear how he gained the trust of japanese whalers had to give this speech in front of them and they debated and debated that's coming up after a quick break, I'm stephen dubner! This is fricken.
radio. If you're enjoying the series on wailing. Please tell your friends and post a review in your pocket app. That is a great way to support the podcasts. You love. We will be right back.
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In two thousand and nine. The world was shocked to see the jacket
he's wailing industry on the big screen right now,
focusing on the body of water that saw the tax base,
Documentary film called the cove routine, stop that if we can fix that
forget about the declaration. The film was about dolphin hunting in the town of tv. In case you
gotten your middle school biology. Yes, dolphins are whales; they, along with porpoise,
is, and a variety of bigger animals that we call whales all belong to the situation in for order anyway, the film follows rick, o bury a D
often trainer turned anti wailing activist critiquing the practice of whale hunting in japan back in the states, the cold,
was nominated for an academy award J alabaster, the amount
journalists we met earlier was living in tokyo
the associated press sent him to tv soon had to be in the town.
case at once, so I went to the town to cover and talk to people and get the reaction times when
Few locations were willing. His basely gone on, uninterrupted for several centuries ways
really remote little town. When I got there, no one would talk to me
I was walking in this town, which is amazingly beautiful and remote, and quaint and people
credibly, nice. No one was rude to me or threatening or anything, but no one would answer any of my questions or anything. Tg did not like the attention the film it brought. They had already gone through the protests of green
in the end they willing movement? They just saw this as another, and I willing swing against them.
In a long string of them from the west. In order to speak to the fishermen and the committee members, I had the kind of involved myself in the society, there's twelve of them, that kind of run. The boats
and bitter union, so they all have equal powers. Are they all have to agree so had to give the speaker
then I'll tell them why I wanted to do this and what I hope to accomplish and they debate
in debating. Finally, I was allowed to hang out with them before and after they went on the hans entirely.
Wailing is done using a method called DR hunting as long as
whether is acceptable they dont have
I was going on they'll go out every single morning, there's twelve boats, if they're all operating and they kind of spread out in a fan with ties. Yet it's centre and they got about fifteen miles at it,
actively slow speed and they're just scanning scanning scanning, the horizon, looking for birds or spouts, anything a hint that there is one of the species that their law the catch and if one
then find a species are calling on the radio, and the twelve would have like an impromptu conference on there,
wireless radios and if they decide to go for it, though, all assemble behind the pod and the line up the boats, and then they have these metal poles that are kind of flange to the bottom and the
a flame side into the water and the very long. They very coordinated, though just push the pod slowly slowly slowly towards tidy, and then they get him to a certain cove, the cove and sealed up with ropes and then either take the animals for meat or life for show animals. That's one thing as unique: antis is that because they do this method of hunting the animals art
at sea alabaster tried to learn about the economics of whaling entirety. The prices are quite hidden, though not published anywhere, so it's quite difficult to get a hard read, but it's
very clear that the live animals are worth far more than the animals that they sell for meat. They only actually eat too commonly the shortfall pilot well, and the striped often are the two that have celebrated in one of those
most we'll go for between five hundred thousand dollars. I think for meat
but another animal say a bottlenose dolphin, which is the show and whether you often see in aquariums can of the flipper. You know they can go for ten twenty thousand dollars, so there's a huge difference there. The film
Timely wailing condemns both the killing of wales for meat and selling them to adopt an area where I started out there.
Only three dolphin herbs today become
a multi billion dollar industry and all these captures the help create
the largest slaughter of dolphins on the planet,
and the winner is, the
that's right, the cove one, the oscar for best documentary
Tv and Japan were generally were almost universally chastised for allowing wailing to continue j alabaster having seen
things from the inside felt, there was a bigger story to be told, so he decided to get a phd.
In journalism and mass communications he is current
writing his dissertation. Yes, so what's gonna how the dumbest
and the international media cover this little town of ties in the debate this world around it and the history of the town itself, so
The beginning of the anti wailing movement, Japan as often
in the primary target. Much more so for
reason: the norway or iceland. When the
international whaling commission declared an outright ban on commercial whaling in eighteen. Eighty two Japan objected and allowed its willing
industry to continue supposedly for research purposes in twenty nineteen, japan left the eye w c
and resumed commercial whaling. This prompted Boris Johnson's.
soon to be prime minister of the uk to publish an opinion peace with the headline. Why
Is there not more outrage about Japan's barbaric practice of whaling? Japan's chief cabinet secretary
I'm Yoshida. Suva defended the decision.
Agent in wailing he said has been supporting local communities in its long here,
Three Japan has used whales not only as a source of protein, but also for a variety of other purposes. These included fertilizer and insect repellent musical instruments and boardgame pieces.
But J alabaster has seen how weak japan's defensive arguments can seem in the fire
of anti wailing activism. There are these powerful environmental groups and
I powerful, I dont mean in a negative way there just powerful when they apply the pressure to kind of tweak the world in the way that they want and they're often very successful and a little town like ties, which has three thousand people in
no international presence, there's no one there. That really does social media officially in looking historically those towns, don't tend to do so well when the kind of pressure that is applied entitled as applied to them, but, as you was very robust, held up, received incredible domestic assistance, I think
japan. It comes down to the fact that they have always been very concerned that if there is a success,
full into wailing. What does that then mean for other parts of their
fisheries industry that again is kate, o connell from the animal welfare institute an
particular tuna, there very focused other tuna into,
treason other very nervous that you know. Will they then come after our tuna there's one big difference to point out: global demand for tuna is strong for whale meat
Not so much all the fishermen and pays you talk about this time in the eightys and ninetys, when the prices were incredibly
and in one season they would make enough to buy a house. J alabaster says that way:
me now gets me, be one third or even less the price it used to sell for that's good news. If you eat whale meat will is served across the planet,
with regional varieties. One common one is called pets. Targets like fried whale, which is the easiest eat whale, has a certain flavor to it and if you're not use it, it's not good. I have trouble with it as well. So it's kind of season to discuss
that. The railway that this is sounds westerners
let me just sense offer, but Japan has a long history.
Obviously of eating raffish and they eat. Well, it's been freshly caught lightly. Cooked are not good.
and if you're a mediator like I am, it is incredible meat when it still fresh but alabaster, says the.
for amount of whale meat consume even in japan is very small, so the average person it's it doesnt register on that.
My other point zero zero percent of their diet as well. I don't know what I've been equivalent. The? U s, but maybe these are rabbit on the menu
or you may go, that's into a trot out or something like that. You know you wouldn't be floored, but you ve got that's kind of interesting their products, but here's the thing
in japan. Even if you don't eat whale, you may not want whale hunting to end pulse of showing that most people, I think sixty or seventy percent people support wailing or Japan's right too well if they dont well themselves in broader japan. There is no question that the outside pressure-
has given a huge boost to wailing. It's one of the few issues I've seen in Japan, where, across the political spectrum, their support,
for whaling
japanese can always say. While this is our tradition and that again is
The long time anti willing activist Paul watson when a species
comes endangered. Like the bow head. There can be no justification for any true
should any culture, my purse,
Our position is, I am opposed to the killing of any whale by anyone anywhere. For any reason, do you feel
that the war against wailing
has been one essentially no
but we certainly have had an impact. A number of countries that were whaley when I began are no longer doing it, like spain and australia and chile, but japan, Norway and iceland have despondingly ignored that before I came to tell you
I had the impression that it was this one of these topics that gets dragged out of the closet every once in a while to hold up. You know this is our culture, but when you come to these little communities is very clear that you know it's a small section of japan, but there is definitely a living, thriving wailing culture. I believe
this is a sustainable practice. The arguments against that are much more moral, then economic or environmental. I would say back in,
norway, the wailing economist, bjorn barbaric, agrees that moral arguments are driving the wailing debate these days, but, as we all know there,
no universal scale of morality in Norway. I think the typical attitude would be
we are eating and slaughtering all sorts of animals and the whales are
no more than an animal? Is the large one, of course that is not more of the special and other animals. That said, the era of big wailing is plainly over, at least for now.
feeling is that the industry is struggling in many ways they are struggling to find a market is not a huge
mom for way meet in Norway, we do exporter some whale meat to
palm we are allowed to do that, but that's also fairly limited. The quota
the last few years has been around one thousand rail sector be killed
and the king has only been a five hundred, and that is not because there are not enough whales out there, but there are not enough waiters
are we about to enter a post wailing world and what, if I told you that cuba
these are still killing. Hundreds of them
in wales a year, but not by hunting them. We ve had all these
whales washing up on shore, sir being found the floating dead
coming up next time on the show how dangerous
Two whales are offshore wind farms about noise pollution and fishing nets. Also why
still a good idea to read moby dick there's a headline early in the novel that says bloody battles in afghanistan, grand contested election for the presidency of the united states,
and was a nineteenth century wailing crew, more ethnically diverse than your twenty first century office, all that in the third and final episode
Everything you never knew about. Wailing
next time on the show until then take care of yourself.
If you can someone else too,
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Transcript generated on 2023-07-28.