Greenpeace Announces Progress in Stopping Antarctic Whaling

nice shearing keep it up

nice shearing keep it up

It is interesting to see how the Japanese government deals with people who expose the truth - they try to put them in jail! But then Japan's Prime Minister blamed his secretary for the monthly million dollars put into his personal bank account by his grandmother (of which he says he knows nothing about). Although I could keep going, the point is that there are Japanese officials who do not wish to be held culpable for their actions, and would rather "kick the cat" instead.

Keep up the great work Greenpeace!

Activism is not a crime, but committing crimes in the name of activism doesn't magically make them non-criminal.

Stopping any whaling though is always good news

Not necessarily.

The minke whales that the Japanese are mostly hunting have pretty healthy population numbers. And as crazy as it sounds, I’ve heard that they may even be competing for resources with humpbacks and fin whales. So, the impact of the Japanese antarctic whaling program is not so big and there’s even a snowflake’s chance that it may be positive.

Not necessarily. The minke whales that the Japanese are mostly hunting have pretty healthy population numbers. Estimates range from about 250,000 at the most conservative to maybe 700,000 at the most optimistic. The Japanese kill less than 1,000 a year. And as crazy as it sounds, I’ve heard that minke may even be competing for resources with humpbacks and fin whales. So the ecological impact of the Japanese antarctic whaling program is not necessarily too big, and there’s even a snowflake’s chance it may be positive.

And I think the Japanese antarctic whaling situation is more eco-theatre than true conservationism. Sea Shepherd goes after the Japanese in the Antarctic because they’re an easy target (they kill less whales than Iceland, but the Japanese are doing it in international waters where they're open to attack). Sea Shepherd is making a killing off of Whale Wars and the publicity it’s giving them. Meanwhile, Greenpeace doesn’t want to look like they’re sitting on their hands, so they try to find more effective solutions to the problem, even though it isn’t so much of a problem. It’s just a bunch of grandstanding if you ask me.

I guess your basic comment is that you are in favor of whaling.

I don't know what your actual information lines are into Sea Shepherd so I believe what you are saying is opinion. From daily reports/press releases from New Zealand, they have an interest to stop whaling.

On the Japanese side, in 1999, Japan had stockpiled 1800 tons of frozen whale meat. In 2010 it is 5600 tons of whale meat. And actual documentation has revealed whalemeat constitutes a mere 1% of Japanese diet.

The other point is that man (us, you, me) has been slaughtering and exterminating species for a very long time. Man even kills off his own kind, puts them in slavery and experiments on them. It has been "shoot first and ask questions later (maybe)". WE have been doing this to the largest species still living on this planet for 100's of years without really trying to see or know WHAT we are killing.

Whales are easy targets. And in terms of competition, one thing for sure is that specific Japanese officials are lying about their quotas.Fishing firms are bribing Russian guards to look the other way.

The small island country has depleted their own resources and now going into other countries waters and overfishing there. And without concern or care.

So Watson may be making, in your opinion, a grand stand. Well, he is backed by the NZ and Australians. So I don't really think its "an easy target". It is just someone who cares about these creatures and is doing something about it. Much more doing than you or me.

It seems to me that what you’re saying is much more opinion that what I said.

It seems to me that what you’re saying is much more opinion that what I said.

It seems to me that what you’re saying is much more opinion that what I said.

The truth is, whales cannot be farmed.

Sea World is currently taking one killer whale and extracting it’s sperm to grow more artificially. It’s how they are “keeping the show on the road”. It is very controversial because the killer whale they are using is the whale that has killed three trainers. They are not releasing it but using it for its sperm.

"Populations are diminishing on all fronts with commercial fishing. In a report written by Danielle Rippingdale for the TOKYO WEEKENDER:

“In Japan, where fish is a dietary staple and fishing statistics are not readily available, statements asserting that in 60 years we have harvested the oceans to the brink of collapse sound like a whale of a fish tale. The truth remains that both fish populations and entire fishing-based economies around the world are rapidly under threat. In 2007 CBS News reported that 29 percent of edible seafood species have declined by 90 percent, and in less than 40 years we will have cleaned out the oceans entirely.

"Conservationists and scientists are unanimous in their recommendation that 30–40 percent of our oceans need to be closed to fishing if depleted fishing stocks are to recover and responsible fisheries management is to regenerate the industry.”

The point is that there is no replenishing of any species.

Japan has fished out its surrounding waters. But there are other points where global warming comes in and Japan is no stranger to this problem. Japan’s trash incineration program releases thousands of poisonous plastic based particulates into the air, because it no longer has enough landfills to bury it.

Per an article written in the TOKYO METROPOLIS:

"While the glut of household waste might be an immediate environmental concern for Tokyoites, premature exposure to global warming - rising tides, depleted fish stocks, melting glaciers, extreme weather patterns - is compounding Japan's parlous ecological state. The prognosis is grim, even for the average sushi-eater. Japan consumes 33 percent of the world's fish catch, but latest figures from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries show that the fishing haul from oceans around the archipelago has fallen 46 percent in ten years. While the ocean is warming, the fish are moving north to colder waters and the catch from the Sea of Japan has fallen by an alarming 62 percent since 1990, meaning that your favorite sashimi might soon be off the menu.”

So guess what? Japan goes to other areas to fish and take whales, among other things.

Here are recent facts that have occurred in the last year alone with Japan:

1. Japan assigns its own limits based on its own counts, certified by its own government.
2. Just in the past week, Japan officials were caught accepting whale meat as gifts from the private whaling companies.
3. Japan officials were discovered to be buying off Russian guards to look the other way on the netted fish counts.
4. Japan has now over 5600 tons of frozen whale meat this year that has been stockpiled in comparison to 1800 tons in 1999.
5. Japan has been caught forming its own pro-whaling group. It was documented that several IWC countries formerly opposed to whaling suddenly changed their opinion and vote. Turns out that Japan has started giving financial aid to those third-world countries. The vote change, by the way, occurred just before the last IWC meeting which ended up in a stalemate.
6. Whale meat was originally used as a replacement for regular meat during the last world war. The war is over. Since that time the youth of Japan do not like its taste. So Japanese officials have gone the next step and turned it into hotdogs and hamburgers (flavored of course) and ordered it into the diets of parochial school children.
7. Current statistics show that only 1% of a Japanese diet is whale meat.
8. An already known fact about Japanese whaling and the IWC is that they are fishing in international waters under the guise of research. As stated above, you know where the research came from. How many whales does it take to do research? 400 tons? The whale meat is sold into select villages and those villages pay the research institute, which funds the whaling ships.
9. We haven’t even touched dolphins yet, but if you can stomach the documentary, watch “The Cove”.

That man is species centric is not an opinion. You only have to study history books to believe. And being species centric, we take from others to feed ourselves and with much less (if none) care or concern. We have done it with the American Indian, much less a whale. Go to the Smithsonian and see the wall of several thousand tribes of Indians that are remembered in name only. History lost.

So the Japanese are not the only culprits. But now you come to present day, where a few good minded men and with good hearts connect with creatures of the sea and realize we are not alone or the only intelligent species of this planet. That we appear more advanced is questionable. Even in our all powerful technology we cannot cure cancer or famine. We can’t even control the elements. Those are facts, too.

And if you want to check out the heart of a whale, do so by looking at a few photographs and the bio of naturalist Bryant Austin.

We are killing creatures and we really do not know what we do.

I hope I have filled a void of opinion. This data comes from thousands of hours of work and labor after having my own experience with whales. Experience I choose not to forget.





And in terms of “population counts” and “sustainable populations” these are actually quite loosely used terms.

I agree that industrial fishing is rapidly diminishing global fish stocks, but that’s an issue entirely separate from whaling.

Most countries stopped or curbed their whaling decades ago, allowing whale stocks to recover, and making sustainable hunts possible for the few countries that do still want to whale.

About your facts:
1. So what? That’s the way the IWC meant for it to be done, way back when the International Whaling Commission was actually about whaling.
2. Gift giving is normal and accepted practise in industry and government just about everywhere you go. If you think that a gift of whale meat is some kind of bribe – corruption – then I’m sorry, but you fail hard. A large sum of money, or property, or say a car… that would be a bribe. A few kilos of whale meat is a perfectly reasonable gift.
3. I’d like to see where that information comes from.
4. What do you care how much whale meat the Japanese are stockpiling, and what do you think it signifies? Need I remind you that the population of Japan is about 125 million. For that many people, 5,600 tons of meat isn’t exactly a lot.
5. Yeah, like the anti-whaling countries aren’t doing anything like that.
6. Japan doesn’t have the agricultural resources to ranch or farm the way countries like the USA, Canada and Australia do. Along with importing meat, whaling is a good supplement to what animal farming they do have.
7. So?
8. It isn’t “under the guise of” research. The research is real and published. It takes as many whales as they want to do research. I don’t know why you people cry so hard about that anyway. The IWC is corrupt. Loopholes like that need to be pulled for all they’re worth. They deserve it.
9. We could touch dolphins, but there are different issues there and it’s really deserving of its own separate discussion.
10. Whales are not Indians and this isn’t the 19th century.

All in all, an interesting collection of information, but it’s the result of and subject to the biases of people who are against whaling, just as my information is biased by being pro-whaling. The facts aren’t damning like you’d probably like them to be.

One of the first rules of any handling is to call everything suspect. It is an very easy way to avoid dealing with truths. Mine come from 10-15 sources, some directly from Japan, some scientists and researchers. Others from respected news sources. I even have family in Japan that translate articles for me. Interestingly, much of my data has not come from anti-whaling sources, but from news reporting agencies which I then cross-index with others to verify the information.

I certainly can respect that you have an opinion. That is the beauty of the internet. I also will not banter with you in rhetoric. Just because you have not taken the time to actually check out my facts, does not mean they are untrue. The truth is, they are untrue for you.

As I said in my first comment you are in agreement with killing whales. You are entitled to that opinion.

It does not appear to me that as a pro-whaling person you have looked at both sides. Only your side. But, I could be wrong there and that is my opinion. All I know is that I have spent and invested thousands of dollars to get at the truth and to make it known. So be it; I have said you have a right to your opinion.

There are those out there who have read my comments and take the time to check them out. I welcome them. They will be surprised at the facts as presented. I have only mentioned but the tip of the iceberg.

Good luck to you and have a great new year.

It doesn't look to me like you've put much effort into actually researching truths about whaling, it looks more like you've spent a lot of time, money and energy collecting information to argue your side.

Look again at my appraisal of your facts. It isn't that they're "untrue to me". Out of 10, I only even inquired about the source of one or two. It's that they're distorted, exaggerated and given more attention than they deserve.

A good year to you too.