By Via Japan Probe comes this interesting program produced by the talented Japanese director and actor Beat Takeshi that has a panel of Australian debating a panel of Japanese people on whether or not Japan should be whaling:
Japan Probe has more on this.
A couple of the Australians on the panel are quite off the wall with their objections to Japanese whaling, but their arguments are actually consistent with what many Australians believe even though the arguments are greatly flawed. Here are the basic Austraian complaints:
- Whales are intelligent as people (really not that prevalent in Australia though repeatedly stated by the panelists)
- Japan is hunting endangered whales to extinction
- Japanese whaling effects Australia’s whale watching industry
- Japanese are hunting in Australian waters
The first point of course is a matter of opinion at this point and irrelevant to the discussion which made the Australian panelists look dumb by trying to claim whales are similar to people. The claim that whales are people of the sea is really just limited to eco-loons. The claim that Japan is hunting endangered whales to extinction is actually a quite common misconception within Australia. This misconception is created by blatant lies of the anti-whaling lobby that is then repeated by the media in Australia without substantiating it.
Here are the facts, the Japanese through the International Whaling Commission which Australia is part of, sets yearly quotas for the Japanese to whale in the name of scientific research. There research primarily centered around estimating the numbers of whales in the oceans and proving that sustainable hunting can be done. The Japanese activities have in fact proven that whale populations are expanding to include around the Japanese islands.
The total number of minke whales which the Japanese hunt totals 184,000 left in the ocean. The expanding numbers of this whale population proves that the Japanese are not causing whales to go extinct if they stick to the whaling quota given to them by the IWC. Let me put this into perspective, in Australia one of their national icons the koala is a threatened species due to the clearing of land in Australia for agriculture and logging in order to feed their population and provide exports. This has led to massive deforestation and environmental damage leading to the extinction of numerous Australian species with more species being threatened with extinction today. Due to this fact, the koala is now a threatened species with only 100,000 left in the wild which is less than the total number of Minke Whales.
A big blow to the eco-loons was when leading environmentalist and Australian of the Year Tim Flannery came out and said Japanese whaling is not a environmental conservation issue and that the hunted whale populations are sustainable:
ENVIRONMENTALIST and 2007 Australian of the Year Tim Flannery has declared his support for the hugely unpopular Japanese whaling program.
As Australia prepares to monitor the whaling fleet in Antarctica amid rising diplomatic tensions with Japan, Professor Flannery says there is nothing unsustainable about its annual cull of up to 1000 whales – particularly the common minke whale.
“In terms of sustainability, you can’t be sure that the Japanese whaling is entirely unsustainable,” Professor Flannery told The Daily Telegraph. “It’s hard to imagine that the whaling would lead to a new decline in population.”[The Daily Telegraph]
The next time anyone brings up whaling as an environmental conservation issue you should direct them to this quote from Flannery. So it is a fact that whales populations are expanding and that Japanese whaling quotas are sustainable which only makes it a further fact that as long as the whale populations are expanding this is not effecting Australian tourism.
In regards to the Japanese whaling in Australian territorial waters this is also a misconception. The misconception is that very few nations recognize the Australian Antarctic Territory. Australia claims 42% of Antarctic territory, yes I said 42% they are claiming! Only Britain, New Zealand, Norway, and France recognize Australia’s claim because they have big claims themselves:
Is it any wonder why the vast majority of the world does not take their claim seriously? It is also why the Australian government will not send the Royal Australian Navy to arrest the whalers because they know that in an international court they will lose.
So since it is not a territorial issue and it is not an environmental conservation issue than what is the remaining reason for attacking Japanese whaling? The only reason left goes back to the claim that whales are smart and cute which is what the anti-whaling people believe. They literally think whales are the people of the sea and it is cannabalism to eat them. Here is just further evidence that this debate has little to do with science and more to do with emotions:
IWC scientists have ruled that the quota is sustainable, and those in favour of whaling will probably cite that fact – as they did last year – as evidence that the anti-whaling bloc are more concerned with the emotional appeal of the acrobatic humpback than they are with science and the nutritional needs of indigenous peoples. [BBC]
However, such reasoning does not motivate the public at large to come out and support the anti-whaling campaign. The anti-whaling groups know this and thus have to rely on spreading disinformation that the Japanese are hunting the last whales into extinction and violating Australian territorial rights.
I have long said that negotiations with the Japanese that would allow them to catch a quota of whales every year commercially at numbers probably lower than what they are whaling now through the IWC could be reached. Recent Japanese statements only verify this viewpoint:
Japan’s main aim is that four coastal communities with a history of whaling be allowed to hunt 150 minke whales each year for local consumption. [BBC]
Let’s see Japan wants four communities to legally hunt 150 whales a year which means 600 whales, which is less then what they are hunting now. However, when one side is against whaling period and sends ships to attack the Japanese it has caused the Japanese to make this issue one of nationalism that they will not back down from which is making any agreement impossible. This is an issue in need of statesmanship, but when your statesman is someone like Paul Watson expect only more comedy and idiocy to continue.
2:01 pm on September 22nd, 2009 1
I’ve got no tremendous problem with the Japanese doing sustainable whaling, but I know what they’re really “researching”. They’re “researching” if the whales are as tasty as they were last year.
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September 22nd, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Funny how nobody seems to protest whaling in Norway, Denmark, Iceland, USA, Korea, Canada…
Lets face it, these eco-loons are just anti-Japanese.
Wow Sanity inspector, you “saw” through they “research.” Tell you what, quite eating chicken and cows, and once your country stops that, the the Japanese should stop whaling. Fair enought?
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September 22nd, 2009 at 5:59 pm
You could never make a show like that in Korea. Koreans are not interested in listening to foreigners be critical.
They would only watch a show where foreigner women are asked to disuss questions like “why are korean men so kind”. LOL
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September 22nd, 2009 at 11:35 pm
Whaling in Canada and the US? You mean like how a few whales are killed every year by Inuit and other native Canadian and American people because whale meat is part of their traditional diet? The small scale hunt has no affect on the population of species harvested. The number of mink whales, for example, grows at a rate of 3% per year.
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September 23rd, 2009 at 5:30 am
If its just a few, then it should be no problem for the rabid racist hippies to end it. Also, I see no reason for blubber eating indians to get special rights to do things. when non indians get to drink all day and all night, beat their women and get free money from the government to do it, then I will be in favor of indians going on whale hunts.
Time to smoke the peace pipe. HOW
September 23rd, 2009 at 10:47 pm
I don’t think Indians need or would want someone like you on their side.
October 30th, 2009 at 10:58 am
I know this is way late, but I came to this entry via the recent South Park-related post and wanted to say that Scandinavian whaling is criticized rather often in Europe. Icelandic whaling even looks to be a potential stumbling block in their accession to the EU.
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2:39 pm on September 22nd, 2009 2
Excellent post. I learned quite a bit from the info you provided in this article.
Before reading this article, I generally didn’t have a problem with Japanese whaling per se, but I presumed that the Japanese were rapidly hunting whales to extinction, and that they were intruding on other nations’ waters and “stealing” the whales there, and so I thought it was problematic. I never followed the issue seriously, but this was the basic impression and info I got from the mainstream media and most places.
It just goes to show you how a small, committed, ideological (dare I say sometimes even crazed) group of activists can dominate an issue in its favor at the expense of a factual, reasonable, and balanced approach.
I have no problem with Japanese whaling as long as they’re not rapidly depleting the world whale stock and taking them from other nations’ waters without their consent. I like whales, and find them to be wonderful creatures, probably one of the most amazing organisms produced by nature on this planet. But this whole argument about them being the “humans of the sea” is just bizarre and nutty. Is tuna fishing ok because tuna is the “chicken of the sea”? Tuna I believe is more endangered than whaling. Relatively high intelligence alone doesn’t make an organism more like human beings. Squid may not be mammals like whales but they are known to have high intelligence. Pigs may not be that intelligent, but their flesh actually is similar to human flesh in many ways, and many of their organs are similar to human organs (which is why human heart valve transplants are often taken from pig heart valves).
Anyway, thanks for combating this misinformation campaign waged by the activists.
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10:09 pm on September 22nd, 2009 3
As an Australian, I’ve long felt that the rabid opposition to Japanese whaling was just a thinly-veiled excuse for racism. There are lots of Facebook groups along the lines of, “F**K OFF JAPAN AND DON’T TOUCH OUR WHALES!” and such that people who often have no idea about the issue are signing up for.
What’s sad is that there are a lot of genuine environmental concerns in the world, and wackos like these guys go out and create a terrible steretype of environmentalists, undermining a lot of the good and genuinely important work of others.
And Kilmer, I thought Pigs were actually the most intelligent among domesticated animals? (Could be wrong here.)
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4:32 am on September 23rd, 2009 4
Just makes me think of that: http://www.prijatelji-zivotinja.hr/data/image_3_226.jpg
Kangaroo are tasty though
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September 23rd, 2009 at 4:58 am
Yes kangaroos are very tasty, you just got to know how to do a good marinade on them so when you grill the meat it doesn’t get dried out.
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4:54 pm on September 23rd, 2009 5
How sad.
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2:31 pm on January 10th, 2010 6
Once more. I’ll comment on an old post. Are the Whales able to be penned, and ACTUAL numbers ACCURATELY monitored?
If this is all about tradition and culture. RETURN to the traditional ways of whaling. None of this floating cannery stuff. It’s a floating Iron warehouse and factory all rolled into one. If it had a smoke stack, you’d see the stereotypical dollar signs being puffed out of it.
Seriously.. I am Australian. I am Educated. I am against the mass deforrestation that is occuring not only in Australia, but around the world.
I am firmly of the belief that if the Japanese wish to turn this into a matter of Tradition and Culture, therefore making it a matter of Racism. Then they should act honourably also. If they wish to profess to be cultural and traditional and honourable, then act in such a manner.
Continue whaling. In the Traditional manner of their fore fathers.
Are they investing millions of dollars (or yen), into fertility, sustainability, breeding programs and such for whales? I think not. They take the word of a global commission that has no REAL way of tracking FACTUAL numbers of any ocean-borne species. They work off estimates.
My opinions and thoughts have no basis on tourism or happy, pretty cutesy whales or anything of the sort. I base my opinions, my thoughts and comments on Logic and FACT.
Show me the numbers, show me the effort to maintain, if not increase the numbers. Show me the Japanese intent to return to traditional methods of whaling.
If they’re going to make the claim about racism, culture and tradition. Then back it up by conforming with it themselves, instead of using it as a poor facade to cover up a multi-million dollar industry. Which is all I honestly see it as.
I ask for proof of this research and scientific study that they allegedly conduct for this whaling.
Tradition, Culture, or the health of their own people?
We’ve heard the claims about mercury levels in the whale product. Show me some proof, show me evidence that it’s there, and that consumption of these products is not harmful to the human body.
Show me life-cycles of whales. I know in parts of the world Cows, Horses, Dogs, Camels, Emu, Cats and all manner of creatures are eaten. Even here in Australia, Crocodile meat and Kangaroo meat is on the menu if people so desire.
However, I don’t eat Kangaroo meat or Crocodile meat. Both are reproducing at an extraordinary rate. To the point where Culling has been neccessary for both at one time or another. But we don’t have roving Cannerys on wheels to harvest and process these.
The cows, pigs and chickens we consume. Are Farmed. They are grown for that purpose. Not harvested from the wild where no truly accurate numbers can be gathered.
I stand firmly by my beliefs and my opinions. Based on FACT.. not Flights of Fantasy.
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11:24 pm on February 27th, 2010 7
The evidence which has been scrutinised by international maritime law experts supports the Australian position and if judged in a law of court the Japanease will be found guilty of tresspassing.
TRY USING FACTS NEW YORK TIMES.
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