The protection of declining whale(双语翻译)

New Roman">By the time people realized that whalee were not oversize fish but warm-blooded mammals with large brains,sophisticated social structures and an elaborate language of squeals,clicks and low moans,it was nearly too late.The orgy of unrestrained whale hunting,which began in the 1600s and became industrialized in the 19^th century, had already sent many species into serious decline. Environmental groups, fearing that the whales would become extinct, lobbied hard to bring the hunting and killing to a halt. In 1986 they came very close: the International Whaling Commission (IWC) voted to prohibit whaling, allowing it only for scientific purpose or, in a handful of cases, such as among native peoples in Alaska and Greenland, to preserve ancient food-gathering practices.

当人们认识到鲸不是一种体积超大的鱼，而是一种拥有较大脑容积、有复杂社会结构，甚至有尖叫、轻叩和低吟等精细语言的哺乳动物的时候，似乎有点为时已晚了。始于17世纪的毫无节制的捕鲸活动到20世纪时已变成工业化的大屠杀，使多种鲸类数量剧减。一些环境保护组织担心鲸走向灭顶之灾，极力游说停止捕鲸活动。1986年，他们几乎接近目标：国际鲸委员会投票决定禁止捕鲸活动，只允许用于科学研究的捕杀，或少量例外，如Alaska和Greenland的土著们作为储藏食物之用。

但是这个条约后来被证明太过于简单而难以生效。特别是日本、冰岛和挪威，在过去的20年中屠杀了成千上成头鲸。前二者声称他们是用于科研，虽然多数的鲸肉终结于餐桌。挪威，甚至连假装都嫌麻烦。他们公然蔑视国际鲸委员会的规则法规。