Could Whaling Actually Save Planet Earth?

There's no denying the science, sea levels have been steadily rising over the last century and the debates over the cause are not any closer to offering an answer... but what if we've been over-complicating simple science?

Whaling has been a documented human activity on the high seas since as early as 6000 BCE, granted it was a subsistence activity based on the necessity for food. Commercial whaling didn't take off as a business until the 1200s but didn't become an ecological disaster until the 1800s at the peak of global involvement.

While it continued as a global industry well into the 1900s, beyond the massive geopolitical shift that sought an end to the practice, whaling was on the way out due to the shrinking and practical extinction of so many species of these massive creatures.

It's not all bad news though, thanks to the efforts of the International Whaling Commission and countless countries that have placed outright bans on whaling, populations of these gentle giants have rebounded and continue to soar... and sea level still continues to rise.

Are the conservation efforts to save the whales responsible for the rising sea levels?

Picture in your mind if you will... It's a hot day. You've been mowing grass and decide an ice-cold drink of lemonade is just the thing to cool you down. The sweetness will provide some simple-carb energy, and the sourness will take your mind off the hard work still to be done, but there's a flag on the play. The baking sun has melted all the ice in your cup.

Nobody wants to drink a hot sweet and sour drink in the heat. That's how you make yourself sick. So you do what any normal person does and head towards the fridge to grab some ice. You reach into the freezer, grab a few cubes and drop them in your cup. How does your lemonade react?

Sure, your refreshing beverage immediately starts to cool off to a refreshing temperature again, but the level of the liquid also rises with every additional ice cub you put in there.

It's called displacement, and could that be why sea levels are rising the world over?

If whales were ice cubes and the global ocean was your lemonade, the land represents the cup. At some point, if you add enough ice cubes, your beverage is going to raise enough to spill over the top.

Whales are enormous, and every time one comes into this world and grows to adulthood, sea levels rise by a practically immeasurable amount. However, if you account for the thousands upon thousands of whales nature has restored over the last hundred years, the evidence is enough to at least theorize that whales are directly responsible for the threat to our coastlines.

Perhaps restoring the commercial whaling industry can once again provide balance to sea levels around the globe.

If you're still reading to this point, you're just as bored as I am. I'll be honest with you, this thought legit popped into my mind while I was mindlessly mowing the other day. Not as a serious thought, but as a tongue-in-cheek joke. As I'm at a loss for things to write about today, I figured I'd share it with you.

For the record, Japan still whales commercially. As shameful as it is, I'm also curious as to what whale meat tastes like.