One of the biggest jokes in conservation is the Japanese government’s claim to be engaged in “scientific whaling”. All the killing by its harpoon fleet takes place under the guise of “research”, as this is the only justification available, under international rules. According to Joji Morishita, a diplomat representing Japan at the whaling negotiations, this […]
Tag: whaling
Japan’s whaling has produced more sushi than science
In 1994, member governments of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the whaling regulatory body, agreed to create a vast sanctuary in the Southern Ocean. There, commercial whaling would be barred so whales hunted nearly to extinction could replenish their numbers in the cold, nutrient-rich waters and thrive again. The Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary was designed […]
Norway whale catch reaches highest number since 1993
Fishermen in Norway have caught 729 whales this year, the highest number since it resumed the controversial practice in defiance of international pressure, industry sources said on Monday. “The season is more or less finished and it’s been very good,” said Svein Ove Haugland, deputy director of the Norwegian Fishermen’s Sales Organisation. The eventual figure […]
POLL: Should the Faroe Islands’ whale slaughter be allowed to continue?
The recent arrest of 14 volunteers working to stop whaling in the North Atlantic Ocean’s Faroe Islands has focused a spotlight once again on a local tradition stretching back over a thousand years. Six of the protesters were found guilty this week of interfering with the grindadráp, or grind, as these drive hunts are called, […]
Russia Stops Japanese Whaling Ship Dead In Its Tracks
Whales in the Sea of Okhotsk are safe from hunters today — at least for now. A Japanese whaling ship that entered Russian waters has been seized by Russian authorities, and is now docked. The 712-ton vessel, the Shonan-maru No.2, was ordered into Russian port last week after it changed course in Russian waters without […]
Japan kills 30 minke whales in first hunt since UN court order
Japan has killed 30 minke whales off its north-east coast, in the first hunt since the UN’s top court ordered Tokyo to stop killing the animals in the Antarctic, the government said. The Japanese whaling fleet that left the north-eastern fishing town of Ayukawa in April completed its mission last week, the country’s fisheries agency […]
Japanese whale hunt stopped, for now
“After a 360-mile chase, The Sea Shepherd Fleet drove the Japanese whaling fleet’s factory ship, the Nisshin Maru, out of the Antarctic Treaty Zone,” said the group in an emailed statement. “Sea Shepherd has all ships in the Japanese whaling fleet accounted for, and can confirm that the whale poaching fleet is scattered and currently […]
POLL: Should Humpback Whales Be Removed From the Endangered Species List in 2014?
After being almost hunted to extinction, Humpback whales were added to the U.S. list of endangered species in 1988. Adults can be 40-50 feet long and weigh around 80,000lbs! They are a baleen whale, which means that they filter their food with baleen plates rather than eat it with teeth. North Pacific humpback whales came […]