[mercyseverity]

I hope this discussion hasn't gotten out of hand.

One thing that really surprises me about these pro-whaling nations like Norway and Japan is how adamant they are about keeping up with the tradition even though whale meat is not really all that popular anymore. Why fight so hard for it if and go through all the trouble it isn't even all that special?
Whats worse is the shockingly high pollution levels of some species. which I think is the kicker. As I said before from what I've seen is that whale meat is marketed as being very healthy in Japan. You could compare that to some fish where they usually say the health benefits out way the mercury levels, but its not public knowledge at all that whale can be potentially hazardous in Japan. Its horrible that the government is hiding this or at least not making the knowledge available. The only reason I can think of is greed. Even putting consumers at risk will not stop them from killing whales and dolphins.