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nautilus

Joined: 26 Nov 2005 Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!
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Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 7:01 am Post subject: How dare japan kill OUR whales. |
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Japan is about to kill 1000 endangered Whales over the next few months. in short, they are harvesting the fruits of decades of conservation measures by other countries.
A lot of the whales migrate from sanctuaries in Australian waters, that have protected them from going extinct.
But that doesn't matter to the conservative Japanese heirarchy, from a country with little environmental awareness, apparently little sympathy for animals, and with a record of outright environmental damage in their own country.
It seems to be all about being stubborn. The meat is filled with toxins and not fit for human consumption because the oceans have been polluted: its not even popular, and there is no neeed to be killing endangered animals in this day and age.
I heard the Australian foreign minister saying "short of going to war with them, there's not much we can do".
How about economic sanctions? For a kick off, Japan has been in trouble for intruding into other countries fishing grounds many times. Why? because they not only destroyed their marine ecosystem, but overfished everything that moves in their waters. Now they want to loot the resources conserved and built up by the efforts of other nations.
Japan's whaling fleet sets sail
Japan's whaling fleet has set sail for Antarctic waters where it will make its biggest catch in 20 years.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4417462.stm
And thats before we even get onto their needless annual slaughter of dolphins. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994
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Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 9:35 am Post subject: |
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Ummm...why aren't the whales their own whales rather than 'your' whales? |
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peppermint

Joined: 13 May 2003 Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.
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Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 9:50 am Post subject: |
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The title of this thread made me think of this:
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Location: All over the map
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Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 9:50 am Post subject: |
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We had better attach radio transmitters to the whales so we know which whale is whose.
I suggest the US lay claim to the sperm and killer whales. Some other country can have the bubblehead whale, or whatever it's called. |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 11:18 am Post subject: |
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"Conservation by other countries," you say? Weren't the Japanese also following the conservation dictate/directive/treaty/whatever it's called? Seems like they're using a provision of that to carry out this particular hunt. |
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happeningthang

Joined: 26 Apr 2003
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Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 1:16 pm Post subject: |
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CentralCali wrote: |
"Conservation by other countries," you say? Weren't the Japanese also following the conservation dictate/directive/treaty/whatever it's called? Seems like they're using a provision of that to carry out this particular hunt. |
You haven't been paying attention then. There's a worldwide moratorium on whale hunting to protect them from extinction. However there's some contingency in place for countries who traditionally eat whale - Norway, Japan and some Carribbean country I forget.
All good and well - except Japan has been hunting whales for years in defiance of the ban - killing (or collecting) thousands of whales a year for "scientific research", and usually in international or other countries territorial waters.
Cheeky buggers. |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 1:56 pm Post subject: |
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happeningthang wrote: |
CentralCali wrote: |
"Conservation by other countries," you say? Weren't the Japanese also following the conservation dictate/directive/treaty/whatever it's called? Seems like they're using a provision of that to carry out this particular hunt. |
You haven't been paying attention then. There's a worldwide moratorium on whale hunting to protect them from extinction. However there's some contingency in place for countries who traditionally eat whale - Norway, Japan and some Carribbean country I forget.
All good and well - except Japan has been hunting whales for years in defiance of the ban - killing (or collecting) thousands of whales a year for "scientific research", and usually in international or other countries territorial waters.
Cheeky buggers. |
Ah, you're obviously rude and stupid. I have been paying attention. Did you not notice where I said they were using a part of the treaty or ban to their advantage. It has nothing to do with whether or not the country doing that is a traditional whale-eating country. They're doing it under the guise of scientific research. And it's legal so you're just whining. Instead of making stupid comments directed at me, you would do better to agitate for reform of the ban to prohibit culling for scientific research also.
I would like to see you provide some sort of citation to prove your assertion that they're killing "thousands of whales a year." |
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happeningthang

Joined: 26 Apr 2003
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Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 2:58 pm Post subject: |
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CentralCali wrote: |
Ah, you're obviously rude and stupid. I have been paying attention. Did you not notice where I said they were using a part of the treaty or ban to their advantage. It has nothing to do with whether or not the country doing that is a traditional whale-eating country. They're doing it under the guise of scientific research. And it's legal so you're just whining. Instead of making stupid comments directed at me, you would do better to agitate for reform of the ban to prohibit culling for scientific research also.
I would like to see you provide some sort of citation to prove your assertion that they're killing "thousands of whales a year." |
Well I wasn't so obviously rude that I opened by throwing names around.
I didn't mean to be dismissive by saying you hadn't been paying attention, so sorry if you took it that way.
Anyway, if you know all about the "scientific research" then you're well aware that it's an exploited loophole in the treaty, or whatever. And, yes I'm sure it's legal, but come on - it's still taking the p*ss.
Especially since they're now looking to increase the numbers of whales taken.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/14/2090100.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4417462.stm
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/whaling/catching-whales-for-science-is |
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Big_Bird

Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 5:08 pm Post subject: Re: How dare japan kill OUR whales. |
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nautilus wrote: |
Japan is about to kill 1000 endangered Whales over the next few months. in short, they are harvesting the fruits of decades of conservation measures by other countries. |
This is what most pisses me off. If every other country had been as reckless and selfish as Japan, the last whale would have been killed off years ago and Japan would no longer have any whales to chase anyhow. Utterly selfish and quite sickening.
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It seems to be all about being stubborn. |
It's quite bizarre. Very few Japanese actually eat whale meat. In fact, the goverment is desperate to get people to start eating it, and is trying to introduce it school children. Ridiculous. It appears purely an exercise in national pride. I find it hard to make sense of that mindset. |
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Leslie Cheswyck

Joined: 31 May 2003 Location: University of Western Chile
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Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 5:24 pm Post subject: |
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Let's drop this whale on 'em.
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Big_Bird

Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 5:24 pm Post subject: |
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happeningthang wrote: |
However there's some contingency in place for countries who traditionally eat whale - Norway, Japan and some Carribbean country I forget. |
Except that very few Japanese ate whale meat pre WWII. After the second world war, they took it up in austere times, but few Japanese enjoyed it. And since then it ahs long fallen off the menu of the vast majority of Japanese. |
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deadman
Joined: 27 May 2006 Location: Suwon
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Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 7:25 pm Post subject: |
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Oh well. This is great news for krill. |
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happeningthang

Joined: 26 Apr 2003
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Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 9:42 pm Post subject: |
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Big_Bird wrote: |
happeningthang wrote: |
However there's some contingency in place for countries who traditionally eat whale - Norway, Japan and some Carribbean country I forget. |
Except that very few Japanese ate whale meat pre WWII. After the second world war, they took it up in austere times, but few Japanese enjoyed it. And since then it ahs long fallen off the menu of the vast majority of Japanese. |
Very true, and understandable. It tastes disgusting, very oily, the texture of paste and with a pungent gamey flavour.
Yerk.
Last edited by happeningthang on Fri Nov 23, 2007 9:52 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Axl Rose

Joined: 16 Feb 2006
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Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 9:50 pm Post subject: |
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Leslie Cheswyck wrote: |
Let's drop this whale on 'em.
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Absolutely. |
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nautilus

Joined: 26 Nov 2005 Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!
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Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 10:00 pm Post subject: |
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Ya-ta Boy wrote: |
Ummm...why aren't the whales their own whales rather than 'your' whales? |
I said "OUR" Whales.
Essentially yes, I dislike the idea of anyone claiming ownership of another species, however in the current political climate one can view the Whales, which do not recognise international borders and migrate freelly through the worlds oceans, as being a shared resource.
When I say resource, I mean that I would not outlaw harvesting under very controlled cand regulated conditions if the populations of certain species were large and secure. But that is not the case, the Japanese are hunting threatened species of small populations that still have not recovered since the orgy of killing in the last century. Whales reproduce slowly and some populations are still at a threshold where it is questionable if they have sufficient numbers let alone gene pool to ever recover.
Throw in the fact that it has been more enlightened countries that have been properly studying and protecting them in reserves. All these years and decades of work to be undone in an instant when the whales happen to venture into japan's fishing grounds? Japan has turned what should be an issue of co-operative conservation into a face-saving issue of patriotism. How "Asian" .
They are so bloody-minded that they are even prepared to force whalemeat with dangerously high toxin levels on their miffed populace.
"The scientists also found that 95% of the dolphin and porpoise meat contained at least one pollutant type above the levels set by Japan as safe for human consumption.
One sample contained mercury levels more than 200 times higher than Japan's maximum permitted limit. Others contained a range of organochlorines, which can accumulate in the food chain. "
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/352611.stm
The cruelty and disrespect for the natural world that seems to be rife in Asia does not stop with japan. Korea has the worlds largest "accidental" bycatch- ie korean waters are jammed full of driftnets that randomly snare and drown any cetacean, which then props up a thriving whalemeat market.
Without being racist, in my opinion, - if it was up to Asia there would be no animals left and everything would become a potential meal. Its time they got with the programme and viewed the environment and natural resources in sustainable, not exploitative, terms. |
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