I don't understand why Japan as a wealthy nation would continue to pursue such a trade. I see no reason, or justification for a Whales killing expedition.
SHIMONOSEKI, Japan - A Japanese whaling fleet sailing toward waters off Antarctica to kill protected humpback whales was itself the target of a hunt Monday by environmental activists who vowed to disrupt the expedition. Greenpeace said its protest ship Esperanza was searching for the fleet south of Japanese territorial waters and would shadow the ships to the South Pacific to try to reduce their catch.
“It’s a large ocean, but we’re going to track them down,” expedition member Dave Walsh told The Associated Press by telephone Monday. In a statement, Greenpeace expedition leader Karli Thomas added that "the whaling fleet must be recalled now. If it is not, we will take direct, non-violent action to stop the hunt." The Japanese fleet was embarking on the country’s largest whaling expedition, targeting protected humpbacks for the first time since the 1960s. In a farewell ceremony Sunday for the four-ship expedition, officials told a crowd at the southern Japanese port of Shimonoseki that Japan should preserve its whale-eating culture.
“They’re violent environmental terrorists,” mission leader Hajime Ishikawa said. “Their violence is unforgivable ... We must fight against their hypocrisy and lies.” Families waved little flags emblazoned with smiling whales and the crew raised a toast with cans of beer, while a brass band played “Popeye the Sailor Man.” The whalers plan to kill up to 50 humpbacks in what is believed to be the first large-scale hunt for the once nearly extinct species since a 1963 moratorium in the Southern Pacific put the giant marine mammals under international protection.
The mission also aims to take as many as 935 minke whales and up to 50 fin whales in what JapanÂ’s Fisheries Agency says is its largest-ever scientific whale hunt. The expedition lasts through April. Japan says it needs to kill the animals in order to conduct research on their reproductive and feeding patterns.
Alleged cover for commercial whaling
While scientific whale hunts are allowed by the International Whaling Commission, or IWC, critics say Japan is simply using science as a cover for commercial whaling. Ken Findlay, a whale biologist at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, said the humpback population was recovering but said he was worried Japan would kill whales from vulnerable breeding grounds like those off New Zealand.
He also said Japan’s hunting methods were unnecessarily cruel. Japanese whalers sometimes chase wounded animals for hours, he said. “I don’t think firing a harpoon at a whale and then dragging it next to the ship is ethical,” Findlay said. “You question the necessity of that. It’s not research.”
An IWC moratorium on commercial whaling took effect in 1986, but Japan — where coastal villages have hunted whales for hundreds of years — has killed almost 10,500 mostly minke and Brydes whales under research permits since then. Tokyo has argued unsuccessfully for years for the IWC to overturn the moratorium
Whales and dolphins are mammals that are friendly to humans. There is documentation of dolphins saving men from drowning and shark attackes.
Actually, a human being is not designed to eat meat.
HereÂ’s a comparison between carnivores, herbivores and human beings.
Meat-eaters: have claws
Herbivores: no claws
Humans: no claws
Meat-eaters: have no skin pores and perspire through the tongue
Herbivores: perspire through skin pores
Humans: perspire through skin pores
Meat-eaters: have sharp front teeth for tearing, with no flat molar teeth for grinding
Herbivores: no sharp front teeth, but flat rear molars for grinding
Humans: no sharp front teeth, but flat rear molars for grinding
Meat-eaters: have intestinal tract that is only 3 times their body length so that rapidly decaying meat can pass through quickly
Herbivores: have intestinal tract 10-12 times their body length.
Humans: have intestinal tract 10-12 times their body length.
Meat-eaters: have strong hydrochloric acid in stomach to digest meat
Herbivores: have stomach acid that is 20 times weaker than that of a meat-eater
Humans: have stomach acid that is 20 times weaker than that of a meat-eater
Meat-eaters: salivary glands in mouth not needed to pre-digest grains and fruits.
Herbivores: well-developed salivary glands which are necessary to pre-digest grains and fruits
Humans: well-developed salivary glands, which are necessary to pre-digest, grains and fruits
Meat-eaters: have acid saliva with no enzyme ptyalin to pre-digest grains
Herbivores: have alkaline saliva with ptyalin to pre-digest grains
Humans: have alkaline saliva with ptyalin to pre-digest grains
There's repercussion for humans who eat meat.
A human being will be less at risk for a number of chronic diseases, including heart disease, some types of cancer, obesity, high blood pressure, and adult-onset diabetes, if he does not eat meat.
killing whale to feed their stomach.