A Plea for the Whale

I have been glancing over a report of the Economic Council of the League of Nations, which suggests that the different countries…

I have been glancing over a report of the Economic Council of the League of Nations, which suggests that the different countries engaged in the whaling industry should suspend operations against the animals; otherwise there will soon be no more whales out of the northern seas, with the exception of a few that managed to escape through Behring Straits into the Arctic regions. The European War brought a great demand for glycerine, and consequently the whalers set out for the Antarctic, where they established themselves with all the latest weapons and methods of destruction.

Modern harpoons, for instance, are discharged like torpedoes, and carry bombs on their points. After the War glycerine was no longer required to such an extent for explosives, but increasing quantities of whale oil began to be absorbed by the soap combines, who now virtually own the whaling industry. I am afraid that the League of Nations will find it difficult to persuade these manufacturers to keep their plant in idleness; they would much prefer to go on killing whales while there are whales to be had. Consequently there does not seem to be much hope for the animals, unless, indeed, another "Moby Dick" should arise and urge them to amass attack on their enemies, in which event there would soon be nothing left of the soap-makers and their floating factories except a few bubbles on the southern sea.