Paragraph on “Should we hunt for whales?” complete paragraph for Class 9, Class 10, Class 11 and Class 12

Should we hunt for whales?

Many years ago, whales were very plentiful in some oceans of the world. Large sailing vessels used to put to sea for many months, searching for whales to catch. Once sighted, the whales were chased in open rowing boats which were put over the side from the larger sailing vessel. The men in the open boats had to row very quickly to catch the whales, and when close, several men would throw long spears, called harpoons, into the whale. The harpoon was attached to a rope tied to the rowing boat, which would then be dragged along until the whale, bleeding badly, finally died and could be collected and lashed to the side of the sailing vessel. Often the whales escaped or dragged the rowing boats under-water. In those days whaling could be a very difficult and dangerous job, but it was also very profitable, for whales are large creatures, and from them could be obtained many things, such as meat, whale oil for lighting, and ambergris to make perfumes. The baleen plates of the baleen whales were used to make brushes. In time, many nations realised the value of whales as a source of useful products, and whaling became more organised. As sailing ships gave way to steam, modern whaling fleets put to sea in great numbers, hunting whales which could not breed quickly enough to replace those lost to whaling. Many of the large, slow-moving whales are now in great danger of becoming extinct, and today only a very few nations hunt whales. Perhaps in time, these nations, too, will be persuaded to hunt these gentle, intelligent creatures less, and so whales will continue to survive. After all, whales play an important part in marine food chains, and for them to disappear might cause an imbalance of nature.