Looming over the dockside in the southern Japanese port of Shimonoseki, a vast, black 8,044-ton factory ship, Nisshin Maru, dwarfs the three gunmetal-grey whaling boats setting off with it on the most controversial hunt in four decades.

 

The fleet embarked today, intending to kill more than 1,000 whales, including 50 of the endangered humpback whales protected by an international moratorium since 1963. Two observation boats are already heading for the southern Pacific.

 

In a festive farewell ceremony this morning, families waved little flags emblazoned with smiling whales and the crew raised a toast with cans of beer, while a brass band played "Popeye the Sailor Man."

 

The hunt, the biggest of its kind to take place in the southern Pacific, is due to last until April. Japan claims that it is necessary for scientific purposes but environmentalists condemn it and have vowed to disrupt it. Some fear the hunt may target the only known white humpback whale, known as Migaloo, first spotted off the coast of Australia in 1991.

 

On the hull of the Nisshin Maru, the word "research" is painted in big letters. Inside the former trawler, more than 150 whalers eat, sleep and work in the floating whale-processing factory, with its conveyor belts, laboratories and meat-packaging plants.

Nearby, the three catcher boats each carry 18 whalers. The steel harpoons will be fired from the platforms at the tips of their prows.

 

Last night a tent was set up on the quayside to host the whalers, their families and government officials at a ceremony after sunrise today to bestow good fortune on the hunt, which will also target 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales.

 

Japan argues that whaling provides valuable material for research into whale stocks, and that whale populations are at sustainable levels. According to Japan's Fisheries Agency, 14,000 whales were killed in the last hunting season.

 

"Humpback whales in our research area are rapidly recovering," said Hideki Moronuki, whaling chief at the Fisheries Agency. "Taking 50 humpbacks from a population of tens of thousands will have no significant impact."

 

But critics say that most of the whale meat caught is sold as food, and condemn the traditional harpooning techniques the whalers use.

 

"This is not about research," said Junichi Sato, a spokesman for Greenpeace Japan, whose campaign ship will follow the fleet. "Most of the whale meat will end up in Japanese pubs and supermarkets. The biggest issue here is nationalistic pride. The Japanese government refuses to give it up because of criticism from outside the country."

 

A recent survey of Japanese university students found most of the 500 respondents had never eaten whale meat, and 65 per cent would favour non-lethal research methods. But they acknowledged the cultural and social importance of whaling in Japan.

 

Humpback whales are rorqual whales, part of the baleen family. They are filter feeders, eating krill, plankton and small fish.

 

They grow to 50ft long and can weigh 50 tons. Females are bigger than males.

Humpbacks can live for 60 years. They are noted for the males' complex singing.

Estimates of their numbers range from 15,000 to 70,000 distributed between the North Pacific, North Atlantic and southern hemisphere.

 

They feed in summer in the waters of the Arctic or Antarctic before migrating to warmer waters for the winter.

 

A moratorium on hunting humpbacks was introduced by the International Whaling Commission in 1963 after they had been hunted to the verge of extinction.

 

Greenland and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines were each allowed to catch one humpback last year as part of a subsistence programme. They were also hunted by the former Soviet Union until 1973.

 

Source: Sunday Telegraph

Tradition is tradition, whether you like it or not. Japan as a country can be so stubborn to outsiders, and so concerned with pride and nationalism it is insane. So it isn't a surprise to see they're still going ahead with it.

Japan really p*** me off with all of this dolphin and whale killing.

research, yeah right of course it is!

its utterly diabolical, there is utterly NO NEED to hunt wales. 'tradition'?... thats bollox, christ are we still living in the middle ages?

Reseach my arse! I can not for the life of me see how these people can kill all these whales. It's so wrong.

its utterly diabolical, there is utterly NO NEED to hunt wales. 'tradition'?... thats bollox, christ are we still living in the middle ages?

 

It's true though, if they want to do it they will, f*ck to any other country that tries to stop them :lol: It is part of the countries pride, something Japan honours and takes very seriously. They've been doing it since C8th, so they're not going to stop now:

 

The biggest issue here is nationalistic pride. The Japanese government refuses to give it up because of criticism from outside the country."

 

I personally do disagree with it, especially the use of harpoons. However, I can see why they do it. Unfortunately, the only way I could see it being stopped is if the government puts a ban on selling whale meat for food purposes, as it contains things that can be extremely harmful to pregnant women and growing children. However, since every year they are requesting a license for commercial whale hunting to begin again, that seems ever so unlikely..

Edited November 19, 200717 yr by Destiny Line

This is absolutely disgusting. Whether it’s tradition or not (and that doesn’t make it acceptable), it’s hunting, pure and simple in the guise of research. All I can say is thank God for Greenpeace. People who not only condemn it, they’re willing to risk their lives to prevent it.

 

''A Greenpeace campaign ship is planning to shadow a Japanese whaling fleet which has set sail on a mission to hunt whales in the Antarctic.

The fleet plans to harpoon up to 50 humpback whales. It is the first time the species has been hunted since a global ban in 1963.

Irish activist Dave Walsh is on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza and said the group was planning a non-violent protest

He told RTÉ Radio's Morning Ireland that Greenpeace members were intent on halting the kill and would place themselves in front of the Japanese harpoons.

Greenpeace says the fleet turned off its identification system as it set sail yesterday and it is currently searching for the vessels, thought to be somewhere south of Japan.

The Japanese argue that there are 40,000 humpback whales and the species is not endangered. Greenpeace says the whales live in small breeding groups and any hunt will wipe out a sub-population of the species. ''

 

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/1119/whales_av...2310026,242,209

 

What research? :lol: What possible scientic experiments and research can be used on Whales? :lol:

f*** tradition, this is sadism pure and simple and the "fishermen" that partake in this deserve to be tortured

 

For a country that is so technologically advanced it is disgusting that they are so backward in the name of "tradition"

 

Should we bring back slavery then as that was once "tradition" ? :manson:

 

 

I don't agree with it all, simple as. It's such a cruel act.

What a load of utter $h!t. Even if it was for whales, you don't need that many of them. Japan needs to get a grip and not let go.

This is utterly disgusting! Everything about it is sadistic, the fact they are doing it for a start, but also the methods that they use, explosive tipped harpoons. I mean ffs these whales are endangered for a friggin reason, when are they gonna stop?!?! Sorry just boils my blood, it really does. I had the pleasure of going on a whale watch expedition and saw humpbacks and since then I am utterly disgusted that people would want to destroy such beautiful creatures!

well if its being done for research... wtf have they ever found out?...lol.. years of 'research' has ended with loads of dead whales and NO new information!

 

tradition.... the point is that we as a speciese supposed to evolve, and we have ditched fox hunting. there is no food shortage in japan so there is no need to kill these magnificent creatures.

Will the Japanese ever stop whaling? Probably not. Not unless we all threaten to stop buying their goods. And that won't happen either. <_<

 

Oh and the Norwegians are just as bad. -_-

Japan maintains that this is part of its culture as a marine nation.

 

They can point to cave drawings in Korea that show the tribes of the Pacific Rim indo china nations (which includes Japan) hunting whales using Donyges or boats made of cork like wood and ropes.

 

The whole sorry History of the American Whale Oil Industry was faithfully preserved on Fuel Ghoul just last week.

 

The Americans used to hunt in Japanese waters in the late 1890s - it was a rich hunting ground.

 

Now they all must go to the south pole to catch whales - and yes its a business , not research.

 

There are now two rouge Greenpeace esque millionaires who have sturdy vessels and they use them to ram the Japanese whaler boat, which like the mini pride of the fledgling Japanese navy. I can't remember their names but they will be very famous soon.

 

Anyway - it wont last much longer - the price of whale meat is dropping because even though it is delicious apparently, the young people of Japan don't eat whale meat anymore and everyone seems to have way more respect for these gentle sea creatures.