I would eat whale meat if I was hungry and had nothing else.

I support people who choose a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle, but PETA disgusts me.

Any non profit animal right's groups have my full support. They are simply amazing and believe in what they are doing.

I can't see anything wrong with people eating whale, but I think the real issue is the low non substainable numbers left in the wild, and also the metod in which they are slaughtered.

Another issue is Japan hunts them under "scientific purposes", which I think only inflames the anti whalers more.

Why can't they just admit that they are hunting them to eat!

If it was different times and the whales were plentiful I would probably try it, I tend to be very curious in different foods. My feelings are mixed on the present day sitiuation though, as it is part of japan's culture, yet the whales are endangered.

I don't think Ronin4hire or I were finger-pointing as such. We were more discussing whether or not a country as a whole is responsible for the actions of a few of its people - a conversation which directly relates to whether or not illegal whaling is the fault of the Japanese government for allowing some legal whaling to take place (i.e. paving a route to it, so to speak).

Bear in mind that neither Ronin4hire or I are either Japanese or American citizens.

But as it's a topic we can explore no further, I'm sure we're both happy with our own opinions :)

That's a good point that is often brought up.

I think the theory is it was eaten in the Japan poor days and when food was in short supply.

Of course, food is no longer in short supply, but whales are.

Eating whale was also part of Western culture too. (Europeans and Americans hunted whales up untill the early 20th century... where do you think the tale Moby Dick comes from?)

And if it's a part of Japanese culture then let the Japanese hunt whales with the tools they used back in the day.

If I remember correctly... the medeival Japanese didn't have steel boats and grenade tipped harpoons.

Will the whales become extinct if this goes on? How many do they actually kill per year?
I've also seen videos of a japanese dolphin fishing industry, where they cut up the dolphins' stomaches and let them bleed to death on the ground. It was horrible. I wonder if they do something similar to the whales, it's hard to tell since they're so huge.

I think exticntion is what's causing the main problem, plus the cruel ways of killing.

It seems the dolphins down at Taiji are getting the Al Queda style slaughter and It breaks my heart to see such a thing on YouTube.

Yes, In Australia we grew up being educated that whales are highly intelligent creatures and that we should respect them.

We did also once hunt whales in Australia, and by memory it was for the fats for perfumes.

That was before my time..

It's hard to know why, when and how we all think differently, but the whale issue is affected because it's happening in International waters.

The cruel dolphin slaughter doesn't get as much publicity, mainly becaus it's done in Japanese waters and they do have control over the media during slaughter time.

Never tried it before.
I feel bad for the whales being hunted so much.
But on the other hand, don't knock it 'till you've tried it. So I'd like to try it just once