Japan's Whale Hunt - Barbarism At Its Worst.

"It is explicitly clear from these images that this is the indiscriminate killing of whales, where you have a whale and its calf killed in this way. To claim that this is in any way scientific is to continue the charade that has surrounded this issue from day one."- Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett.

A shocking photo, released recently by the Australian government, on Japan's whale hunt in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in Antarctic waters, left me disgusted at the barbarity and extreme cruelty of the Japanese government in the needless slaughter of whales under the guise of scientific research.

The picture, one of many, showed two bleeding whales - an endangered mother minke whale and her calf - being dragged aboard a Japanese whaling ship after being harpooned.

Because of their sheer mass and complex vascular systems, whales do not die immediately after being harpooned but have been known to survive for up to an hour. To fully understand just how much pain whales go through after being harpooned, readers are urged to read Magical Melodies And The Songs of Pain, and will come to understand the distress and terror that these majestic creatures have to endured.

And a charade is what this has been. Despite claims of killing whales in the name of science, Japanese whaling isn’t about science at all and is simply commercial whaling in disguise, with the meat being viewed as a delicacy and sold to supermarkets and restaurants.

Non-lethal methods to study whales such as photo identification, tagging, DNA analysis and observation experiments already exist. Without a single harpoon being fired, data from satellite tagging of whales, harmless skin biopsies and fluke identification have yielded valuable information about the migration patterns of whales.

And the International Whaling Commission has clearly stated it does not need the data obtained from killing whales and has, in fact, passed forty-one resolutions critical of Japan’s research whaling program.

The slaughtering of endangered whales for food is also totally unnecessary and whale meat is unsuitable as a food source as it is often extremely toxic and is dangerous to eat. Whales accumulate environmental pollutants that bond with their blubber, such as polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) and dioxin, and also heavy metals such as methylmercury. The effects on humans who consume contaminated whale meat or blubber include cancer, nerve damage, reproductive and developmental disorders and liver damage, to name a few.

These majestic cetaceans are highly evolved animals with a complex social life and are sensitive, social animals - they call out to each other over the vast expanses of the oceans - with highly developed nervous systems and have a profound capacity to suffer distress, terror and pain.

The international community has to act and put an immediate stop to this barbaric practice as the killing of whales is totally unjust, terribly inhuman and has no place in modern civilized society.

For individuals, we can help to spread the barbarism of Japan's whale hunt by writing about it or signing a petition, "Why Use A Harpoon...When We Can Use A Canon?" organize by Green Peace, to register our indignation. These two simple initiatives will reinforce the Australian government's determination to stop Japan's whale hunt in its own backyard. Japan has got away with murder for much too long.

"It is now clear to the world that Japan continues to undermine the international efforts to conserve and protect whales despite the International Whaling Commission repeatedly urging Japan to refrain from hunting whales." - International Whaling Commission.

*Related articles :
- Magical Melodies & The Songs Of Pain.
- Whaling Photos Distressing : Garett - The Sydney Morning Herald
- Japan's Shame Files - Shocking Photos Of Whale Hunt - The Sydney Morning Herald
- Why Use A Harpoon...When You Can Use A Canon - A Petition By Green Peace