Leviathan: the protection of whales and the limits of international environmental law

Abstract

Introduction:
International law governing whales and other cetaceans must be set within a context of
multifarious human-nature interaction. Whales and other cetaceans have had a long and
complex relationship with mankind: we have relied upon them for subsistence needs;
exploited them for commercial and strategic gain; incorporated them into notions of identity;
granted them religious, artistic and literary significance; researched them; admired them, and
protected them. Although it is impossible to understand each of these in isolation, it is this
final instance with which this paper is principally concerned. Whales and other cetaceans are
essential to – and symbolic of – ecological sustainability; their protection is a global
challenge requiring effective and comprehensive collaboration between states. It is thus a
means of accessing the ways in which actors in the international system cooperate and
conflict on seminal issues. Moreover, these issues must be addressed in unison; Keohane and
Nye’s understanding that world affairs are characterised by interdependence is valuable here
(Keohane and Nye, 2012). Global politics, the environment and the whale are interconnected
in this way; international laws governing each of these issue areas are influenced by those of
the others. It is thus possible to pose the question:
In what ways do efforts to protect whales and other cetaceans help expose the
limitations of international environmental law?