Why Do People Still Hunt Whales? (Update)

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.”)

SOURCES:Jay Alabaster • , doctoral student at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. Bjorn Basberg • , professor emeritus of economic history at the Norwegian School of Economics. Eric Hilt • , professor of economics at Wellesley College. Kate O’Connell • , senior policy consultant for the marine life program at the Animal Welfare Institute. Paul Watson • , environmental activist and founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

RESOURCES: • “ The Soviet Union Killed an Appalling Number of Whales. I Wanted to Know Why • ,” by Ryan Tucker Jones ( Slate, • 2022). • “ Behind the Smile: The Multi-Billion Dollar Dolphin Entertainment Industry • ,” by World Animal Protection (2019). • “ Japan to Resume Commercial Whaling, Defying International Ban • ,” by Daniel Victor ( The New York Times, • 2018). • “ Why Is There Not More Outrage About Japan’s Barbaric Practice of Whaling? • ” by Boris Johnson ( The Telegraph, • 2018). • “ Margarine Once Contained a Whole Lot More Whale • ,” by Sarah Laskow ( Gastro Obscura, • 2017). • “ 3 Million Whales Were Killed in the 20th Century: Report • ,” ( N.B.C. News, • 2015). • “ The Spectacular Rise and Fall of U.S. Whaling: An Innovation Story • ,” by Derek Thompson ( The Atlantic, • 2012). In Pursuit of Leviathan: Technology, Institutions, Productivity, and Profits in American Whaling, 1816-1906 • , by Lance E. Davis, Robert E. Gallman, and Karin Gleiter (1997). • “ Norway Is Planning to Resume Whaling Despite World Ban • ,” by Craig R. Whitney ( The New York Times, • 1992).

EXTRAS: • “ The First Great American Industry • ,” by Freakonomics Radio • (2023).