Whale meat again !!

[Shush]

Anyone else heard of this. Was amazed when I saw it. Personally I prefer drinking real ale, not real whale!!!

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/whale-meat-beer-claiming-to-turn-drinkers-into-vikings-is-slammed-as-immoral-by-conservationists-9046718.html

[Toronto Popular Front]

as long as the whale is fished in a sustainable way I'd drink it if i was at the festival, hell, i'd even try eating dolphin if it was caught in a humane & sustainable way

[DannySan]

Saw this yesterday. I'd try it

No point in getting BLUE about it or getting the HUMP... not sure I want to try and fit SPERM into the jokes! 

[Johnz]

The whales in question are fin whales and are considered endangered. As such, products like this actively support and exploit the extinction of the second largest animal that has ever lived on earth. All for the sake of 'a bit of a laugh'. Sad.

[Shush]

The only good thing to hear when reading the article is that the Whale meat industry in Iceland is in decline, hence this poor taste idea to drink this and become a "true Viking" to promote the meat.  Thankfully this product will not be exported outside of Iceland.

[Toronto Popular Front]

while i do actually agree with the comments about the decline of the species of whale (i did say if it was sustainably caught i would drink it) i would likle to ask those people - have you ever been to Spain, ans if so, how much Spanish caught seafood did you eat? i ask this out of interest as people easliy jump to the save the whale issue, but then overlook the spanish (and others) ignoring EU fishing quotas & size of seafood, also the EU discard rules etc
in order to save the whale (which i agree with), we need to look at our activities in the ocean as a whole. we will never save the whale if we destroy what they feed on

[Johnz]

while i do actually agree with the comments about the decline of the species of whale (i did say if it was sustainably caught i would drink it) i would likle to ask those people - have you ever been to Spain, ans if so, how much Spanish caught seafood did you eat? i ask this out of interest as people easliy jump to the save the whale issue, but then overlook the spanish (and others) ignoring EU fishing quotas & size of seafood, also the EU discard rules etc
in order to save the whale (which i agree with), we need to look at our activities in the ocean as a whole. we will never save the whale if we destroy what they feed on

Totally agree. Furthermore, the few thousand whales that get killed in whaling operations every year are negligible compared to the estimated 300.000 whales and dolphins that die as a result of ingestion of plastics and/or entanglement in fishing gear. Competition for food sources, noise and climate change are further threats. To me that is probably the most compelling argument against whaling. They have a hard enough time out there as it is without people actively killing them. However, I do agree with you that whales are not special per se and some people have some pretty loopy ideas about whales capabilities. If you can eat a cow you can eat a whale (They taste shit though).

As for commercial fishing, it's a crime and the EU is one of the biggest culprits (Denmark, Spain, Ireland). I stopped eating commercially caught seafood years ago. 

On a more positive note, whales are an 'umbrella species'. They are hugely popular and to protect them successfully you have to protect a whole range of different habitats and food sources. That's why conservationists are often happy to bang the 'whale drum'. Much easier than trying to convince people that sharks or herrings need more protection.

Nice discussion btw. I'm a marine biologist who studies whales so it's great to see this topic pop up here.

[Toronto Popular Front]

not to do with whales, but a similar sort of subject. just seen on the news about a bull elephant rolling a car in south africa, it was said the elephant was put down due to it's unpredictable behaviour! another states it may have been injured or that it was in musth
it seemed to me the tourists drove far too close either way, forgive for saying this but i think the tourists should have been put down for being idiots and the elephant left alone
sorry but this really gets under my skin, just like when a shark attacks a surfer in australia or other surfing / shark hots spots, then they go out and gun down anything with a fin. but to miss-quote 'Jaws' - surf board goes in the water, you go in the water, the sharks in the water. seems to me like it's the humans fault for thinking the planet is our playground and being in the same place as an apex predator with huge pointy teeth
rant over

[Shush]

I agree. Killing the elephant for doing its own thing in its natural enviroment is just wrong. Go upto any male elephant when it is in musth and expect to be attacked. Its on a par with sticking your hand in a lions mouth !!

Going back to the Ale, many Ales have fish product in such as Guinness. A vegan friend of mine has a list of ales he can and cannot drink.

[stompy13]

I completely agree with you TPF on all points. Next time any of you are across here in Spain, try a vegetable paella instead...and give me a shout for a few beers!

[Toronto Popular Front]

I agree. Killing the elephant for doing its own thing in its natural enviroment is just wrong. Go upto any male elephant when it is in musth and expect to be attacked. Its on a par with sticking your hand in a lions mouth !!

just watched something on one of the documentary channels about an alligator training who, as part of his act, stuck his head in (wait for it) an alligators mouth, then guess what happened one day?

he was saved but has since given up his alligator shows, but at least he has no hard feelings for his ex-show-biz-partner.
there was actual footage taken by a spectator, one of the funniest things i've seen for a while.

there was also a really good doc about a man in south america who befriended a very young croc & would actually swim with it as a full grown adult, it showed no aggression to him, he could feed it, lay & swim on its back, now that was fascinating, the crocs head was nearly the size of the human. and full credit to the south african guy who was making the doc as he did eventually get in with the croc. there was a voice over at the end which i was expecting to hear how this bloke had been eaten by the croc, but it actually told how the croc had since died of natural causes

[Shush]

Yes, I think I have seen that to in the past. I think they blamed it on a drop of sweat from the mans head landing on the crocs tonguecausing a bite reaction from the croc. Can"t blame the croc for that.!!