A couple of stories that just popped up on the net suggest that the Japanese Whaling industry is on life support. One report indicates that the Japanese people have lost their appetite for eating whale meat. Allegedly, there are warehouses in Japan with frozen whale meat stacked to the rafters, unsold.
The ongoing campaign by the Sea Shepard Society to interdict the Japanese whaling fleet in the Antarctic ocean has dramatically reduced the number of whales slaughtered. In fact, the current killing season has been a wash for the Japanese. Not one whale killed, due to the constant harassment of the Sea Shepard Society's presence.
The killing of whales was banned by the International Whaling Commission in 1986. The Japanese have continued a limited whale hunt, shamelessly claiming that the killing they are doing is 'research'. That is bullshit and the whole world knows it.
The hundred plus volunteers that staff the Sea Shepard Society's vessels come from all over the world. They courageously put their own lives at risk in confrontations with Japanese whalers in the severe conditions of the Antarctic ocean in order to stop the whale slaughter.
The Japanese government has tried to shut down Sea Shepard's efforts in the courts. They have tried to make Paul Watson, the Sea Shepard leader, an international criminal. So far, nothing the Japanese have done to save their whaling industry has worked. The government of Japan is now subsidizing their whalers at a cost of something like $130 million a year. There is no way for them to win this fight. The moral high ground is held by those defending the whales.
Here is a link to the Sea Shepard Society website http://www.seashepherd.org/
Further update. Here is a link to a video posted by teh Sea Shepard team in February, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4Ep45gKJbQ&feature=player_embedded
No comments:
Post a Comment