Jul 11

As I came across a story on the International Whaling Commission taking the cowards way out and not making a decision on whether on not Greenland hunt Humpback Whales, I also came across the this article.

This is not new to me.  I saw a nature show that showed how some whales have remnants of pelvic bones not attached to anything.  The are just there.  Maybe they had the right idea and moved back or just stayed in the sea.

If they did, they have the right idea.

As the annual International Whaling Commission meeting stumbles to a close, unable to negotiate a compromise between whaling opponents and people who’ve killed more than 40,000 whales since 1985, scientists say these aquatic mammals are more than mere animals. They might even deserve to be considered people.

Not human people, but as occupying a similar range on the spectrum as the great apes, for whom the idea of personhood has moved from preposterous to possible. Chimpanzees, gorillas and bonobos possess self-awareness, feelings and high-level cognitive powers. According to a steadily gathering body of research, so do whales and dolphins.

via Whales Might Be as Much Like People as Apes Are | Wired Science | Wired.com.