Examples of this claim are often made by those organizations whose mission it is to champion the preferences of their supporters, who, by the way, are "educated" by the groups themselves. Greenpeace, The International Fund for Animal Welfare, Humane Society of the United States, Animal Welfare Institute, Environmental Investigation Agency, Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, and others are all presenting narrow cultural arguments against any whaling. These range from "environmental" claims that whales are endangered by any hunting, to "humane concern" about the method of killing used, to a final, "moral" argument that whales should not be killed because they, themselves, prefer that no one uses whales.

Some groups are going so far as to claim that whalers and their nations are inherently dishonest, and that cheating and smuggling are to be expected. This demonization of other cultures is an unfortunate and undeserved characterization that diminishes all who participate in it. It has become obvious that some groups whose business it is to protest whaling are encouraging their listeners to feel and demonstrate no respect for the cultural diversity that is represented here at the International Whaling Commission.

A press member might explore the cultural preference of these groups on their own web sites, and compare their claims with some other sources, in particular, the following:

The International Whaling Commission has a web site (www.iwcoffice.org) that spells out the legal mandates in the Convention and its mission, which is presented in two parts of equal importance; "to provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks, and thus to make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry". The Convention, or ICRW, is The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.

There is nothing in it that gives the members of the International Whaling Commission the right to vote to prevent whaling on the basis of cultural preference only. In fact, this short and simply worded document insists that all management decisions taken be based in scientific fact and recommendation. Members of the press may decide to check this out on the IWC web site, before printing as truth, any protest claims that the IWC exists to ensure that all whales are "saved" forever from any use.

Press might inquire of Greenpeace, IFAW, HSUS, and others, if they would approve commercial whaling in the event that the IWC would take action to set a quota.