Wich again is about the money. Someone's palm gets greased because of it. Money doesn't have to be made on the whaling itself...but money is involved in the polotics of it.

Japan to hold whale hunts despite activist threats - Yahoo! News

Just a link I found today that talks about Japan's intent to continue whale-hunting, and the reasons why they continue to do so. I thought it might be of interest to the thread.

Personally the reasons given that it's for research into whale populations seems rather ridiculous, particularly as the hunting would diminish the whale population which would then undermine the point of the research, which is to prove that whale numbers are sufficient enough to lift a whaling ban. It seems like a rather transparent guise simply to hunt more whales. Not to mention that - as I believe others may have mentioned - whale meat is still purchaseable in Japan, so obviously it's not entirely for research.

I also worry about the human side of this. They say they're upping security to keep the whalers safe from activists, but knowing how determined and violent activisits can get I wonder if the whalers can actually ever be safe in international waters. It seems like a great risk to human life to me, and perhaps it would be best to whale-hunt solely in Japanese waters?

Contradiction much?

I don't think any animal is equal to Humans. Simply because if they were, then we would be nothing but animals and the rule of reason and law would no longer apply. Only the rule of the Jungle........The strong survive, the weak get eaten.

However, that doesn't mean Humans should hold other animals in such contempt we don't treat them at least with a certain amount of compasion..cause how we would treat animals is how we would treat each other.

Sorry, I don't mean to be 'that nitpicking guy', but technically humans are classed as animals ^^;
I think I know what context you're saying it in, however.
In that sense, I see it as humans being terrible animals, because if you dump the Average Joe in the lion infested jungle, I bet he'd be having the meat picked off his bones before he could even conceive the thought of building a trap...
If we had the technology stripped from us so that we're just as natural as the rest of the animal kingdom, humans really aren't that great.

Humans can kill a lion with sharpened sticks, The Massi do it all the time. We have something no animal has in combination. The biggest brain, an apposable thumb, and self awareness.

I guess so, a long time ago humans were good animals and some still are today. But if you dropped say... a businessman in the jungle with literally nothing, not even a knife or a sharpened stone, do you think he'd even know how to sharpen a stick properly? Who knows, it can't be the most difficult thing in the world, but I bet he'd be pray before he could figure it out properly.

No, Mr. nitpicky, to me humans and animals are distinguished from one another. Other than what we have in common as carbon based lifeforms living on planet earth, the similarities pretty much end there.

Yes if you just droped a buisiness man with out experiance in that enviroment he would prolly be worm food...However, he can learn and be taught and adapt very quickly.

Good Idea, Quit being a member of that stupid IWC and hunt only in Japanese waters. Then it's no ones business but ours.:D

Also,

NOTICE
for anyone that's got real evidence that Japan has gone against IWC rules. Please post it here. I will personally Email it to the IWC.

:ywave: