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posted by martyb on Thursday May 31 2018, @11:32PM   Printer-friendly
from the what-ARE-they-researching? dept.

122 Pregnant Whales Were Killed in Japan's Latest Hunt. Was This Illegal?

More than 120 pregnant female whales were among 333 killed during Japan's recent annual summer hunt off the coast of Antarctica, according to a new report.

The report, released by the International Whaling Commission this month, said 122 of the slaughtered minke whales were pregnant and 114 were considered immature.

The last hunting season in the Antarctic for Japan ran from Dec. 8 to Feb. 28.

Conservationists said the new report was further evidence that Japan was killing whales for commercial purposes under the guise of scientific research.

Whether the annual hunt is legal is unclear, as some federal and international laws are in conflict with one another.

Also at BBC and Smithsonian Magazine.

A Minke whale, after reaching maturity, ranges from 7-10 m in length and masses from 5-10 metric tons.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 01 2018, @12:55AM (9 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 01 2018, @12:55AM (#687005)

    I don't understand the motive. Whaling is not a Japanese tradition. If it's just to stick it to the snooty westerners, they would have caught couple whales just to make a point. The Japanese do not enjoy whale meat (who does?!).

    Why are the Japanese doing this?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 01 2018, @01:31AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 01 2018, @01:31AM (#687018)

    "Japanese have a long history of whaling. Some towns can show their whaling history for hundreds of years." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_whaling#Cultural_aspects [wikipedia.org]

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 01 2018, @01:47AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 01 2018, @01:47AM (#687024)

      The Japanese never built ocean-going vessels till the ww2. Certainly, they never went halfway around the world to slaughter hundreds of whales, for which they have no appetite.

      Any Japanese here?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 01 2018, @06:04PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 01 2018, @06:04PM (#687362)

        "The Japanese never built ocean-going vessels till the ww2"

        horseshit. japanese in chile, ffs.

    • (Score: 2) by qzm on Friday June 01 2018, @02:56AM

      by qzm (3260) on Friday June 01 2018, @02:56AM (#687047)

      Oh stop letting mere facts get in the way of peoples own internally decided reality!

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Friday June 01 2018, @01:47AM (1 child)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday June 01 2018, @01:47AM (#687025) Journal

    Your post is pointless and stupid. Are you trying to rewrite history? Man, around the world, with access to the sea, has always hunted whales. If something moves, we have to taste it. If it doesn't move, we try to transplant it someplace else. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_whaling [wikipedia.org] Several sub-articles, including https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_whaling#Japanese_open-boat_whaling [wikipedia.org]

    Is there some other nation that is more synonymous with "seafood" than Japan? They eat anything they can pull out of the water. Care for some blowfish? https://www.bbc.com/news/av/magazine-18102811/preparing-fugu-japan-s-poisonous-fish-dish [bbc.com]

    • (Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 01 2018, @02:57AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 01 2018, @02:57AM (#687048)

      Hmmm, if I cared just a smidge more I'd log in and mod you insightful. Maybe the OP grew up vegan and wonders the same thing about Burger King?

  • (Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Friday June 01 2018, @03:58AM (2 children)

    by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Friday June 01 2018, @03:58AM (#687071) Homepage Journal

    I'm not Japanese. But I visited Japan. I know a lot about it. And the Japanese love to be politically incorrect. They have a very special place, Yasukuni Shrine, that honors all the great and brave soldiers & pilots that died in the wars -- also the animals. Beautiful buildings & statues, very historic. Including some guys that our court said were war criminals. And when Prime Minister Abe visits the shrine, people lose their minds. China, Korea, lots of angry people. But he likes that, I think he likes it. Because it shows that Japan is a Country all its own. And it shows he can go wherever he wants. And the whaling is like that. They call it science. They call it good eating. And it's very profitable. But it shows that Japan is its own Country.

    And Norway -- I love Norway -- they catch so many whales. But they did the legal where they don't have to call it science.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 01 2018, @04:10AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 01 2018, @04:10AM (#687076)

      Hey Donnie boy, Abe doesn't want you to win the Nobel.

      • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 01 2018, @04:39AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 01 2018, @04:39AM (#687089)

        Abe doesn't want you to win the Nobel.

        Who cares what Abraham Lincoln thinks? Acting all high and mighty just because he is a vampire hunter.