Whales are cool. Like all mammals, whales breathe air into lungs, are warm-blooded, feed their young milk from mammary glands and also have a pelvis bone. MORE HUMAN THAN FISH EH!!

The International Whaling Commission introduced a six year moratorium on all commercial whaling in 1986, which has been extended to the present day; current whaling nations are Norway, Iceland and Japan and the aboriginal communities of Siberia, Alaska and northern Canada.

Whales generally live for 40-200 years, depending on their species. Recently a fragment of a harpoon used by commercial whalers in the late 1800's has been found in a bowhead whale caught off Alaska. The fragment showed the whale is between 115 and 130 years old.

I don't personally think the attack on Japan specifically is necessary, but I like it nonetheless.

cause whales hunt in japan is legal..

i have been hearing about that whale crap for the past few days when a girl saw them hurting dolphins and she cried. AmIrite?

I see what your going for with the Japan ship, but for the sake of this site and on a tshirt, a country neutral ship would look best.

This is an awesome drawing and I would totally wear this otherwise.

ahaha.. i like it.. and the ship being Japanese is fine with me.

5$

haha i love the whale :D

japanese whalers hunt whales in australian territory all the time, bastards.

Regardless, country neutral is far more likelyto get a print.

Some people might find the Japanese ship offensive, but why? They hunt whales in Japan. Should we just pretend they don't? It's no more offensive than showing a Spanish bullfighter. It makes perfect sense for a revenge-seeking whale to squash a Japanese whaling ship. Plus it adds some nice color.

a bit hardcore for this site is it, maybe we should go easy on the whalers??!! I thought it might attract less votes.if there is overwhelming support for a neutral ship, vote anyway. It can be changed before print. just make a note for neutral or japanese. Thanks for comments, i am listening.

Looks like the Kobayashi Maru for sure...

The thing is, if it looked like the Japanese boat but didn't have the sun plastered all over it, it would still get the message across. People who know about the actions of the Japanese fleet would recognize the message, and it would have a lot more staying power in case Japan ever does stop its whaling program.

yeah, "neutralize" the boat. make it an old whaling vessel, like Moby Dick and all, with an old sea captain. it is a "white whale" after all. This is a great illustration!
also, and i'm not trying to start a debate, but if you look into the Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research, there are some interesting points made. It's good to look at both sides. I'm not sure what side is more trustworthy, but as long as the Japanese are hunting non-threatened species under legal IWC provisions, then, morally, killing a whale is no different than killing a cow.

Hate it...Japan is my world.

Getting political, isn't it?

guess i opened a can of worms... from now on, i'll only draw birds and sandwiches with wheels.

It's nice but i think KARMA covered the subject pretty much already.

And with a Japanese flag too!

Hard hitting message. I like it but its bound to be controversial. Keep the flag i say!

oh yeah, i see, .does that mean that no one can ever do a whale and a harpoon again seeing as how KARMA did it first. "THE SUBJECT HAS BEEN COVERED" as you say.....yet the subject remains!!! Let's not raise any more awareness about hunting endangered species because someone threw together some clipart of a whale dragging a boat..

No one said that you should stop your campaign. I only mentioned that because it's rare that threadless would print designs with the same theme.

Lastly, even if you claim Clayton Dixon's KARMA as clip-art-ish, though I've mentioned this is nice, to be honest it's a lot better than your rendition and well-suited for the subject matter. That's all.

i was going to say it is like killing a cow too.. i think we should start breeding whales, that way we can kill and eat them too.

Japan kills whales in violation international agreements. Their claim of scientific research is bogus. The issue is much bigger than threadless. If they won't print it, find someone who will, and keep fighting.

Good, but I already own Karma... that does for me... and more subtly, as I like! ;-)
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If they are going to be compared Tbone's rendition is a lot more commercially attractive.. and Karma's doesn't really attract the attention the issue deserves. But whatever, each to their own. Great illustration Tbone!

I like it just fine. Keep the flag, and definitely keep the tongue on the whale.

It's all about the tongue stuck out in concentration that does it for me!

I like the colors and design...but I'd prefer that the flag not be there.

The idea is good.

Keep the flag. If anything, more people may just like the jap. style sun on the boat. Artistic vision must live! hazaa!

Funny, 5$.

the boat doesn't bother me. but if you wanted to tone it down and still keep japan incorporated you could just get rid of the design on the boat and keep the small flag of the back of the boat. a little more subtle i guess

funny!

people aren't realizing that its a SHIRT,
and i hope it does get printed because i think its awesome,


those who don't like it, shouldn't buy it, its as simple as that eh?

5$

This is so relevant to us in Australia right now, awesome illustration $5.

It's great

KEEP THE JAPANESE DESIGN!! it's most recognizable. i'd love to see the other evil countries represented, too.

i have issues with aboriginal whaling too . . . if they're not doing it in a traditional way (without motorboats, harpoon guns, etc) . . .

i really really love this and would buy at least two

i like this better than the karma shirt because the message is bolder and easier to see. the karma one is nice too, but i'd rather have this one. unlike karma, this can't be misinterpreted as a captain Ahab thing (another reason to keep the Japanese flag/sun).

oh, looking closer, i see that karma has a japanese flag! it's like four pixels, but it's there.

appreciate the design and your message, but i'm pretty wary about specific targeting as in the japan flag...I think the message is as effective (to the audience that will appreciate it) without the specific country-bashing. wonderful design and idea though, best wishes and look forward to seeing more of your work

Maybe get rid of the flag, but the rest of the design is nice. I used to live in Alaska, and hated the fact that they hunted whales. good work!

yeah name and shame, japan keeps killing whales. All they have to do IS STOP $%

last day guys!!
thanks for ALL the feedback, it's been great.

BUY THE SHIRT AND SAVE THE WHALES..LOL

karma :)
one day they'll harpoon us all!
funny & great idea

I usually hate the political shirts on this site, but love this one, minus the flag. Who doesn't want the whale to harpoon the whalers? A whale with a harpoon, a seal brandishing a club, a deer with a rifle positioned between his antlers, a mouse dragging a syringe . . . humans watch out. Love it.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23173529-12377,00.html

Wow, after reading all of these I feel like we are in law school with a great healthy debate going on. Congratulations tbonekelly, accept your critic's statements because you learn from them. It's very interesting to see how people think and all the good points that are brought up. Is it the design money that we are shooting for here, the prize of winning or the ideas we are wanting to represent?
My conclusion-ART breeds controversy, makes people think just like politics and religion. I say, we are privledged to be born in the USA so design to your heart's content. I am counting on feeling free enough to submit some of my own designs. which may cause some controversy also. Excellent idea you had here whatever you add or remove.

the whole "rising sun" boat is a bit much.

I really like it... I too like the bold statement.

I LOVE Japan but that doesn't mean the country is perfect, in fact, I have yet to find one that is. And actually I was going to say if you remove anything, just remove the flag... I love the "rising sun" ship.

But keep it all I say!! :D

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