What Can Be Done About The Japanese Whale Research Program?
In recent whaling by Japan, under the loophole in IWC rules that allows lethal whaling for loosely defined “scientific research,” 227 of the 853 minke whales killed were pregnant. Whalers touted the find of unborn and extremely rare twins as evidence that the population was strong. Ninety percent of the minke whales were killed in the Australian sanctuary. Humane Society International’s suit against the Japanese whaling company Kyodo Senpaku, an attempt to force Australia to take action to stop the whaling, will be opposed by Australia, because the nation is physically powerless to stop Japan. The Japanese Whale Research Program has no hesitation announcing what they have done, or that their self-assigned quota will kill 850 Antarctic minkes, 50 humpbacks, and 50 finbacks next season. Perhaps because of the cold audacity of it all, no one questions the accuracy of the outrageous numbers, forgetting the whalers’ historical penchant for killing what they found, and reporting what they wa
