Is rocker Ted Nugent really going to slay 20 whales?

Among the catchier Friday morning headlines: "Rocker Ted Nugent Tells Belmont Shore Patch Columnist He'll Kill 20 Whales."

That was followed by the subhed: "Controversial hunter-rocker modestly vows to slay the mammoth creatures this year."

Now for some perspective. The Patch.com story clearly was posted because of the sensational value of Nugent's claim. Of course the Motor City Madman, as fond as he may be of hunting down wild animals, isn't going to slay any whales.

The rocker/hunter/conservationist made the claim, jokingly, during the Thursday night debut of the Philip Friedman Outdoors radio show, which airs at 9 p.m. on AM 830.

Nugent, an ardent bow-hunter with outspoken beliefs on just about any topic, was asked what he thought about Capt. Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's annual efforts to harass Japanese whalers during their controversial hunts in the Antarctic region.

In other words, Nugent was goaded by Friedman, who knew the rocker does not have a filter and would provide entertaining sound bytes.

It might have surprised some, however, to hear that Nugent would side with the Japanese over minke whale hunts that are condemned by so many nations and individuals. The hunts are carried out in the name of research to get around a loophole in a global moratorium on commercial whaling.

Nuget claimed that minke whales are a renewable resource, like many land critters, and that if the Japanese like to eat whale meat they ought to be able to hunt the whales. (Minke whales are not endangered.)

Watson might counter that fewer Japanese are eating whale meat these days, that a lot of meat is wasting away in freezers and that whale meat contains high levels of mercury. That is, if Watson even cares about what an aging rock star might think about the way Sea Shepherd operates.

Friedman, of course, has extended an open invitation for Watson to appear on his show.

Those who missed the Nugent interview can hear it via this link.

Comments

[Viper]

Ted Nugent is the biggest coward in the history of cowards, refusing draft into the Vietnam War, by crapping his pants. He hasn't had the experience of killing another man, for whatever his government's intents and purposes, but would gladly hunt animals indiscriminately and call himself a real American. He's nothing but a heartless, gutless, miserable piece of rubbish, who'd never enter a real killing field where the game shoots back.

As for Japan, whatever the argument, for or against, nature has had it's way with them and they are going to suffer a really, really long time. It's the sheer reality of the nuclear disaster that gets me wondering if this is the earth's way of dealing back to those who slaughter incessantly for their gluttony. And please stop with the whole LEFT and RIGHT argument, reality is reality and that's it. Comparing groups like the Sea Shepherd to Al-Qaeda is the most ignorant, backward, retarded crap to come out of the mouths of pro-war mongering chicken hawks who've never stood in a real battlefield and know what its like to be hunted.

[OleBuck]

The whalers are working within the law as a "research" vessel, if they weren't I'm sure the Sea Shepard would have brought along some sort of law enforcement during their Whale Wars show. I'm also sure the whalers aren't really researchers, just poachers who found a loophole. But since the Sea Shepard has no authority when they attack the whalers they are no better than pirates and the whalers have every right to respond to the threat.

[AnimuX]

It's amusing when pro-whaling antagonists compare groups like Sea Shepherd to "Al Qaida". Especially when you consider that Sea Shepherd has NEVER killed anybody, NEVER beaten anybody up, and NEVER taken anybody hostage (and never threatened to).

In typical fashion, they also selectively ignore the decades of violation and subversion of international agreements by industrial whaling nations like Japan. (including the criminal pirate whaling operations setup and financed by Japan in the 1970s and 80s)

They falsely claim the mass slaughter of whales is for "food" as if Japan has some kind of nutritional dependence on whales - as if people will starve if they don't get to eat an endangered whale steak.

The fact is, according to Jun Morikawa, author of "Whaling in Japan", has explained Japan's tradition of eating whale only exists in isolated coastal villages. Whale meat became a "substitute meat" nationally during the post WWII recovery. However, as soon as the economy recovered and Japanese families could afford other meats, the demand for whale declined significantly (and has continued to decline since the 1960s).

Today, only a tiny fraction of the Japanese population actually consumes whale. In fact, the government of Japan (which heavily subsidizes the industry for political gain and corrupt practices) often buys back whale meat from the commercial industry to include it in compulsory school lunches. Otherwise, most Japanese children would never taste whale. So much for tradition...

There is absolutely no nutritional or economic need for whaling in any industrialized nation. There is no humane way to kill a whale. Many whale species are already endangered as a result of over hunting, including some of those still slaughtered by Japan today. There are many internationally established conventions and resolutions prohibiting whaling. These reasons and more are why there is a conservation effort and environmental movement to "Save the Whales".

[TnTodd]

The hypocrisy of people like Veronica O'Riordan are the reason this country now officially sucks.

It seems these left wing nuts are perfectly content in killing children, but get up in arms when someone kills a whale for food.

The Sea Shepherd and ANYONE who supports them are no better than al-Qaeda. These terrorists are physically attacking a group of people who are clearly acting within the law. They are intentionally attempting to destroy expensive equipment further endangering the lives of those on the boat. If you don't like the law, fine. Get the law changed. Other wise you are nothing more than a thug.

I can only hope that Bob Barker makes for a good fish home ate the bottom of the ocean......

[Veronica O'Riordan]

It's absolutely disgusting that a nation as small as Japan are allowed to get away with wiping out entire species of marine mammals. Just because you are a wealthy nation, doesn't give you the right to ignore and continuously act in defiance of international conservation legislation. Sea Shepherd is the only organisation to have the guts to challenge them head-on in the Southern Ocean each year. As for the dolphin slaughter......the people inflicting that horrific slaughter upon these gentle creatures will answer to a power much greater than themselves some day. Karma is a truly powerful force. The world needs more organisations like Sea Shepherd. Long may they continue with their heroic operations.

[AnimuX]

Unfortunately, most people don't realize the "Save the Whales" movement did not start with sea hippies throwing stink bombs at Japanese whalers.

What Nugent fails to grasp is the world's whaling industries, including Japan, nearly wiped out every species of large whale despite decades of international efforts to regulate whaling.

In fact, Japan is historically guilty of violating size limits, species protections, seasonal limits, all manner of quotas, and even facilitated pirate whaling operations (that's front companies in foreign waters illegally and secretly poaching whales in order to smuggle the unreported meat to Japan).

In 1986 a moratorium on all commercial whaling was established by the International Whaling Commission and in 1994 the Southern Ocean was declared to be a whale sanctuary.

Japan continues to subvert these latest internationally established regulations by exploiting a loophole in the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling intended for science. The legality of this move has been challenged and the International Court of Justice will hear arguments over the next few years.

By supporting Japan, Nugent is effectively voicing support for poaching and 80 years of whaling regulatory violations.

And by the way, the IUCN has data that suggest the Antarctic Minke whale population may have declined as much as 50% over the last three generations which would classify the species as "endangered". Unfortunately, Japan continues to fluff up population "guesstimates" from the 1970s and 80s to justify its ongoing slaughter of Minke whales.

Japan also annually kills endangered Fin whales, endangered Sei whales, vulnerable Sperm whales, Bryde's whales (population uncertain), Common Minke whales (up to 46% from the vulnerable J-stock), rare Baird's beaked whales and up to 20,000 dolphins.

Japan also acts as the world market for whale meat by importing endangered Fin whale from Iceland which is prohibited by the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species.