Reviewed by: Seema
On the radio one afternoon, Shark and I heard an interview of a reporter who had traveled along with Paul Watson and The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. If you don’t know who Paul Watson is (we didn’t at the time), he’s an environmental activist and a sea captain who works to save whales from whaling ships that hunt whales at the bottom of the world–around Antarctica. He and his team are very passionate about saving the whales, and sometimes they get into battles with whaling ships, occasionally even sinking ships and hurting crew members. Shark and I both agree that whales are amazing creatures that deserve protection–particularly the endangered species that are being hunted illegally. But there’s a gray area that we couldn’t decide upon. Does the end justify the means?
That means, does the reason a person is doing something make the way they are doing it okay? It’s really tough to decide because the whale hunters, though they may be in the wrong, are living beings. And while attacking ships at sea is illegal, so is hunting and killing whales. It’s definitely something to think about. And while you’re thinking about it, have I got a book for you to read!
It’s called ‘Big Blue Whale’ by Nicola Davies. If you’ve ever wondered about how big a blue whale really is and what it would be like to see one, this book is right for you. If you’ve never wondered about that, this book will have you dreaming about swimming deep in the sea alongside a blue whale anyway. The pictures are simple and beautiful and the author compares the whale’s skin and teeth to things from our real life (a hard boiled egg and our fingernails for example) , so we can really get an idea of what touching a whale would be like. Even if you’re past picture books (or a grown-up) you will want to read this book again and again.
