Japan to resume whaling.

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Beings eat other beings all the time.... predators are at the top of the food chain.

And species come and go - this is how nature works.

The issue with humans is that through technology and industrialisation we have the capacity to destroy a large number of species in a very short space of time. And this is a very serious issue that needs to be addressed by the international community.

But whatever we think in the West about eating whales, or monkeys, or dogs - the West is only around 20% of the world's population, and it is an unrealistic expectation that we can get the other 80% to eat only what we eat.

In terms of the Japanese whaling industry, we need to separate between our emotional response to seeing these magnificent creatures being hunted, to the cold question of sustainability.
 
Maybe it's delicious?

Not particularly. Very enticing looking - dark fat-free steak but with a curious fishy aftertaste.

I have a fifty year old connection with Norway - a very civilised country - yet they consume whale meat regularly. They also eat disgusting fermented fish and rancid porridge (rommegrot).

Minke whales are not an endangered species by the way but the apparent cruelty of killing them will always be controversial.
 
are they eating whale meat or boiling them up for use in cosmetics and the like?

Whale meat is very popular in Japan - I lived there. My issue is that they suffer, family groups get broken up and there is the sustainability issue. The Japanese go whaling under the guise of "research". There was a long series called "Sea Shepherd" with the anti whaling team fighting the Japanese factory ships.

@neilrr ......nothing like a lovely juicy (grass fed piece of steak). If an animal is raised humanely and then slaughtered humanely, I have no issues with eating it.

There are vegans that treat their pets poorly - go figure!
 
........ They also eat disgusting fermented fish and rancid porridge (rommegrot).

.

I've tried whale meat. The taste is not unlike an aged beef (45 days) with a very strong almost metallic taste. Reminded me of the smell of blood from a freshly slaughtered large animal.

The Scots eat animal heart and lungs etc stuffed in to the lining of a stomach. In the bush (Africa) it is not unusual for people to be eating lumps of raw fat, liver, heart while the animal is still being butchered and monkey is a delicacy in West Africa.

And then we have the elephants and rhinos being wiped out because of greed and the demand (in Asia) for their horns.
 
Not particularly. Very enticing looking - dark fat-free steak but with a curious fishy aftertaste.

I have a fifty year old connection with Norway - a very civilised country - yet they consume whale meat regularly. They also eat disgusting fermented fish and rancid porridge (rommegrot).

Minke whales are not an endangered species by the way but the apparent cruelty of killing them will always be controversial.
Surstromming or some such.
 
Japanese tradition is a very powerful motivating force - in Japan, but is responsible for us having just about everything reliable - another Japanese tradition i.e. Your car will not collapse in the driveway overnight and neither will your supercharged power horse loose most of it's supercharging powers just because it becomes stressed in service - and so on and on and on and on.....

The whales eat stuff too, they slaughter quite a bit in the Ocean actually, I just wish they could give em a shot of something to take the pain away before they blow a tiny part of them up, a shot of the good stuff the nice nurses give you when you are in hospital, then blow them up. Seems as bad as the burnt alive pilot to me, does that. Nailing them with a grinade and no pain killers, THAT"S NOT ON MR JAPAN, THAT"S HOW YOU"VE BUILT RAILWAYS AND WE DON"T LIKE IT, AND NEITHER SHOULD YOU!!! Now where's my Doulble Happies I seem to remember they fit almost perfectly in a Japs nose - BANG!


Or and leave those Dolphins alone too, unless you pleasently juice them to destraction first.
 
Whaling is difficult and in the old days of open boats positively dangerous. The reason is because we are hunting [ and I use the term advisedly] a large wild creature in it's native environment not ours. There's no getting away from the fact that hunting whales is a bloody, messy,very cruel business. There's no bolt thro the brain, no electrocution, no gassing no controlled ex-sanguination ---no clinically efficient "instant " death we associate with farmed animals. These large animals die in agony often suffocating in their own blood from massive internal injuries. :eek: All to satisfy some dietary predilection not a nutritional necessity.:mad: We humans should aspire to be better than that. Perhaps if people were to see the bigger picture of man's place in the evolutionary tree they might think again, but I somehow doubt it. :(
BBC iPlayer - Royal Institution Christmas Lectures - 2018: Who Am I?: 1. Where Do I Come From?
 
Historically, a significant driver for whaling was the need for machine lubricants. Deriving these from crude oil, reduced the commercial pressure on the whale and this together with the various global conservation initiatives led to the current situation where whaling activity has diminished somewhat, leading to a partial recovery in great whale numbers. Still nowhere near the numbers that existed before the dawn of industrial whaling of course.

Japan have never really stopped whaling, they have continued to undertake whaling 'research'. Very sad news that they are to resume commercial whaling.
 
Historically, a significant driver for whaling was the need for machine lubricants. Deriving these from crude oil, reduced the commercial pressure on the whale and this together with the various global conservation initiatives led to the current situation where whaling activity has diminished somewhat, leading to a partial recovery in great whale numbers. Still nowhere near the numbers that existed before the dawn of industrial whaling of course.

Japan have never really stopped whaling, they have continued to undertake whaling 'research'. Very sad news that they are to resume commercial whaling.

And since this is a car forum
In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, ATF used to contain whale oil as a friction modifier. But since whale oil would break down at higher temperatures, cars produced in the 1970s and later were not able to use it because of the adoption of higher engine coolant temperatures to improve thermal efficiency. A moratorium on whale oil at that time prevented the continued production of older ATF such as the original DEXRON Type A and B
 
I really do not understand what drives a market in killing whales in 2018. Dear God, surely we, as a race can step sway from whatever that market is. I may be missing something here, but if they managed all these years without killing whales then surely it’s not outside of all of our intellect to figure out how we can continue to survive without it.

It is probably up there amongst the most barbaric and horrific things to witness.

I despair.


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Bruce, I think that with the Japanese, it is a deeply rooted social custom to eat whale meat, even if there are many alternatives around. When they were "ONLY" killing a quota for "Scientific" purposes, it was ending up on dinner tables. where it is sold as a delicacy, like KOBE beef. They hunt in waters not only around Japan, but far away from Japan also. But their hunts have been "interrupted" on several occasions in the past. Looks like these interruptions will have to increase.
 
Hi,
The whole world needs to start boycotting Japanese products and people need to write to their local Japanese Embassy to let them know of their boycotting.
Visit Japanese car dealers - show interest in a car - then just before committing to buy it, tell the dealer that your moral ethics won’t let you buy a Japanese car because of whaling. Hopefully that message will be relayed back to Japan HQ.
Only then will Japan realise the body of revulsion that the rest of the world feels about their barbaric practices.
Perhaps then the economic harm that this boycotting has on their industries - will force them to reconsider their actions.
If Japanese people lose their jobs as a result of a recession - they won’t be able to afford to eat whale meat!
Cheers
Steve
 
Apparently they have been 'allowed' to kill 333 whales a year for 'research purposes' and as I understand it Whale meat is consumed more as a treat or as a 'traditional' dish by the elderly part of the population on some occasions, i:e not every day (a bit like Turkey at Christmas here in the UK !)
I do not know what percentage of the animal is eaten and how much is either inedible of simply not required but 333 whales seems like enough to keep the whale munchers happy.

I also understand that the younger population in Japan do not see whale meat as a 'must' so surely demand will drop over time just as the demand for stuff like Tripe, Kidney etc has dropped in the UK, still available but not particularly sought out by the younger (future) generation.

So are the traditionalist , who just happen to own whaling fleets ,pushing the resurgence of whale hunting ?
 
333 should give you some insight...

They have been down here doing it in the past and in the Southern Ocean but thanks largely to Sea Shepard and Greenpeace they seem to have indicated a Northern Hemisphere hunting ground this time round.
 
I thought the plan was for them to ditch IWC rules but only hunt in Japanese waters ? Or did I hear that wrong ?

BTW 'hunting' is a bit of a strong word for using sophisticated electronic devices to find massive sea creatures that move relatively slowly in large herds along ancient migratory paths.

Maybe we should say OK Japan crack on with Whale hunting, but it must be done from a wooden rowing boat supported by a sail ship without engines seeing as it's so frucking traditional !!
 
What a sterling idea, could get the film makers alongside too, even show us how they make the harpoon from dirt, coal and limestone. Then move on to boat making, ropemaking and so on, ending finally with Japans greatest all ready to go. Reminds me of Clarkson crossing the Channel.
Start with some Orca shall we...
 
In a ironic twist perhaps the cetacians will have the last laugh? Basically the higher up the oceanic food chain the greater potentional for Methyl Mercury and PCB tissue accumulation. One might have thought the Japanese "traditionalists" would have learned from Minamata? :confused: Current Danish/Faroes studies are revealing elevated levels of Methyl Mercury in those eating whale meat with some evidencee of in-utero transfer.
Mercury danger in dolphin meat | The Japan Times
 
Yes but using the method Pete is promilgating you don't actually have to go after them - they come to you - just sit in Cook Straight for a while...
 

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