Japanese Whaling Season About to Begin and Austrailia Fights Back
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It's that time of year. As some people hang Christmas lights and display Hanukkah candelabras others load up the grenade-tipped harpoon for another season of "whale research."
As you might imagine a few groups are upset about this. Captain Paul Watson of Sea Shepard would be one. (Here's our interview with him.) The Humane Society is another. According to Kitty Block, vice president for Humane Society International, "By claiming its whaling is for research, Japan has been able to kill more than 15,000 whales since the moratorium was implemented in 1986."
This year the Japanese Fisheries Agency says it will kill 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales. Australia doesn't think that is quite necessary. But it's tough to argue with "research" and the International Whaling Commission did approve the annual hunt. So Australia is beginning its own research.
The country will spend $3.87 million on aerial surveys, satellite tags and genetic studies. The idea is to prove that whale research can be done without harming whales. The country's Environmental Agency will also conduct and audit of Japan's whale research program.
[via Humane Society and The Star Tribune]
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