[MissMisa]

My opinion is this:

- I don't agree with the killing of Dophins in Taiji. The fact that they are dolphins is irrelevent. I don't like it, first and foremost, because of the methods they use to kill the dolphins. This is even worse for dolphins though because they are arguably aware of the fact that they are dying.

- I agree with the opinions of environmentalists, but again, I don't approve of their methods. Sometimes they are very brash and intrusive, which just makes the Japanese people angry and causes more problems.

- I don't believe this is about culture. Culture can change. If culture stayed the same in England, we would still be hanging people in the streets. Culture is a stupid justification for doing awful things, which in the modern world we have come to realise are cruel and pointless.

- I do believe this is mainly to do with money. I doubt the farmers would be so passionate about their 'culture' if another job was offered to them with similar pay.

- I don't agree with whaling at all. This is because whales are not a sustainable source of food, because they are not bred specifically to be eaten. They are wild animals. This is not because whales are 'magicalspecialwonderful.' It's because if we allowed whales to be killed for this reason, they would be extinct in a short amount of time. How do we know this? From past events. The reason why it's bad that whales are extinct is not because they are 'magicalspecialwonderful.' It's because they play an important part in the food chain which could adversely affect a LOT of other species. Not just whales.

- Also, it is extremely difficult to kill a whale humainly because of it's size. The current methods are painful, distressing and inhumane, and we should not allow this on ANY species.This is another reason why whaling should not be permitted.