Research… Bullshit!

This is whale research in the Philippines

Question: How many whales do you need for research?

Answer: One, maybe two, although ten is not unreasonable.

But the Japanese need 1,000!

Not just once, but every year.

This is Japanese research in the Antarctic

Why do you need to kill 1,000 whales every year in the name of research? And, where are the results of all this ‘research?’ What benefit does the planet get from all this bullshit?

This ‘research’ is a disguise for whale hunting for commercial purposes.

This is the result of Japanese research

There has been an international moratorium on whaling for 25 years, but the Japanese have a need to ignore the international community. In light of their need to know they carve up the whales to study their diet. What a load of bullshit. If you go to the doctor with problems of this nature, the doctor doesn’t carve you up, he gives you a little jar to take home to provide a stool sample for analysis. What’s wrong with whale poop? You only need whale poop to tell you about their diet; admittedly, the jar would have to be bigger.

The BBC News reports: Japan has confirmed it will go ahead with its annual whale hunt and will increase security to protect its fleet.

Yushin, owned by The Institute for Cetacean Research

Yushin is a shop and restaurant in Asakusa, Tokyo. The meat for both the shop and restaurant comes from the research factory ship Nisshin Maru which conducts the scientific whaling research slaughter in the southern ocean whale sanctuary every year.

The Telegraph reports that the shop and restaurant are closing down, supposedly for financial purposes, but it comes on top of the imminent departure of the whaling fleet, which makes one think it is more like damage control.

I was particularly interested in this paragraph from the report.

‘…a whaling industry spokesman told the Telegraph: “The purpose of Yushin was to enable more people to taste whale meat and to promote its consumption in Japan.”‘

The finger!

Bloody hell! To promote consumption! Shouldn’t the Japanese be promoting alternatives? They are just giving the finger to the rest of the world. They are not interested in finding a solution.

Norway

Of course, Japan isn’t alone in this whaling issue, Norway is in on the game too. But at least the Norwegians don’t call it research; they tell the truth.

The Norwegian Whaling quota for 2010: 1286

The Norwegian govenment’s reason for whaling:

Its an important part of the Norwegian diet and an important part of the Norwegian culture.

Then there’s this comment:

“The government is lying. I am Norwegian. From an island. I have NEVER eaten whale meat. I have never seen whale meat on the dinnertable. Not in my home, nor in anyone else’s home.”

Despite the comment above, it is recognised that whale meat has been a part of Norwegian diet for centuries with evidence of aboriginal hunting dating back to the middle ages. The Minke whale hunted by the Norwegians is plentiful and found all over the North Atlantic. All other species of whale are protected by Norway.  Norwegian whaling is carried out in its own backyard and is based on the principle of protection and sustainable harvesting of marine resources.

Which is a little different from Japan’s wholesale slaughter which when you consider the annual dolphin slaughter…

Japanese Dolphin Slaughter

…makes them seem rather barbaric.

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