Japanese kill 508 whales - - tragic

[donsu]

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12446


Japan Whaling Ship Returns with 500 Whales, Shrouded in Questions


A Japanese whaling ship that triggered a high-seas showdown with environmental groups and suffered a deadly fire was due back in port Friday with a catch of 508 whales, despite having to cut its annual hunt short after the accident.

The homecoming, however, was dogged with questions, as authorities prepared to investigate the below-deck blaze that killed a sailor and crippled the ship as well as the anti-whaling protests that had earlier tried to block the hunt.

Journalists were being barred from the Tokyo wharf where the processing ship Nisshin Maru was expected to dock with its crew of 149. Japan's Fisheries said it would hold a news conference only next week after the investigation has progressed.

The Nissin Maru's return brings an early end this year's hunt in the icy waters off Antarctica, which had been scheduled to continue through the end of March. It was the first time in 20 years that Japan had to abort its whaling mission.

Still, the six-vessel fleet managed to kill 508 whales out of a target of 860. After scientific research is conducted on the animals, the meat will be sold to market where it is snapped up as a culinary delicacy by the Japanese.
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shame on the Japanese for being so selfish and uncaring.

[Strathos]

1. What's wrong with those people

Don't you think they wouldn't want the rest of the world to think of them as barbarians?

The Chinese are worse when it comes to killing anything and everything they can without concern.

[TomInTib]

2. This "culinary delicacy" stuff is bs.

In the past, the Japanese ate a lot of whale out of necessity. Plus, they sold a heck of a lot of the oil to the US Naval forces for lamps.

Now, it is mostly the elderly that continue eating it for tradition's sake.

They force the majority of the meat down the throats of schoolchildren. Boil it in tomato juice to make it palatable.

[MadHound]

3. And some here still condemn Greenpeace for confronting these bastards

They are the only ones out there who are actively opposing this insanity, yet they get ripped for it all the time.

[slampoet]

4. I really wish i could make every whaler live in New Bedford MA for a week.

New Bedford was the hub of whaling back before the civil war, and now it is one of the most dried up cities in all of New England.

This is what those Japanese whaling towns will eventually look like once they over fish the whales out of existence.

It's sad since most Japanese businesses have a long term outlook. All except fishing i guess.

[JitterbugPerfume]

5. This is a sad commentary

on the Japanese people. They cling to tradition at all cost to the environment.

Very sad indeed

[TZ]

6. Here's what always gets me about the Japanese

with this. Does anybody else in world practice "science" by going out and killing a bunch of endangered or threatened animals ? HELL NO. As someone with a zoology degree this thinly veiled excuse to butcher these animals nauseates me.:argh: