What is the Festival for the Souls of Dead Whales?

Today is the day of the Festival for the Souls of Dead Whales, but what is that, exactly? To be completely honest with you, we’re not entirely sure either. No one is! 

The main thing we know about it, is that it exists and that it is a day to commemorate and remember all of the whales that have died. But when we tried looking up where it started and why, we found out that no one actually knows, and we just love the mystery!‍

According to some sources, this festival supposedly is a holiday celebrated by the Inuit people of Alaska, where whaling has a very long history. However, when the director of the Inuit Heritage Center was asked about this holiday, he had never heard of it. Still, it is assumed that the holiday was created by someone who was sympathetic to whales who have lost their lives because of whaling. 

Whaling is the act of hunting and killing whales for food and oil. Nowadays It’s forbidden in most parts of the world, but a few countries (Norway, Iceland, and Japan, to be exact) and regions still allow it (the aboriginal communities in Siberia, Alaska, and northern Canada can whale, but only on a subsistence basis). Many species of whales are currently endangered and have concerns other than whaling, such as climate change and water pollution.

We don’t know who started this holiday but we are here to remember all of the whales who died and remind everyone of those who are still alive. Whales are amazing and we hope one day ALL of unnecessary whaling will stop.