Japan Whalers Slaughter 207 Pregnant Whales For “Science”

A feet of Japanese whaling ships returned home on Thursday with a haul of 333 minke whales. The enormous catch might violate a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

230 of the whales were female; 90 percent of those females were pregnant.

“The number of pregnant females is consistent with previous hunts, indicating that the breeding situation of minke whales in the Antarctic is healthy,” said the Japanese Fisheries Agency in a statement, according to Reuters.

207 pregnant whales were killed for “science”. “Science” also demands that the whale meat gets sold commercially and eaten by Japanese citizens. The ultimate goal of the “research”, according to the Japanese government, is the resumption of commercial whaling.

Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research claims that the Nishin Maru was at sea for 115 days, of which 65 were dedicated to the survey and slaughter of whales for “biopsy” samples while conducting “satellite beacon experiments, and marine water surveys”.

Last year Japan announced that it would ignore the findings of the International Whaling Commision (IWC), which banned the killing of whales for “science” three decades ago, and continues to hunt whales in Antartica.

Spokesman for the Sea Shepard environmental activism  group Adam Burling notes that the hunt also went against a 2014 ICJ ruling against whaling which ordered a halt to all Japanese whaling.

“These whales have been killed in defiance of Australian laws as well as international laws,” he said.

 Two-Way reported in 2014 on the ICJ’s halt on Japanese whaling:

” ‘In light of the fact that [Japan’s program] has been going on since 2005 and has involved the killing of about 3,600 minke whales, the scientific output to date appears limited,‘ the court wrote in its judgment.

“By a 12-4 vote, the court based in The Hague decided Japan must ‘revoke any extant authorization, permit or license granted in relation to’ its whaling program, ‘and refrain from granting any further permits’ related to it.

“Japanese officials have said the whaling program, called JARPA II, is for research on whales’ age, sexual maturity and pregnancy rates, according to court documents. Some elements of the program were slated to go on for six to 12 years.

“But the court noted that an expert who was called on to testify … said Japan’s program ‘operates in complete isolation’ from other Japanese and international research efforts into Antarctica’s wildlife.”

Japan’s excuse? Apparently this hunt did not violate the ruling because it was conducted under a new research plan that the ICJ did not yet rule on. And when the ICJ rules on that one, there will be doubtless any number of other plans to replace the banned ones.

The Sea Shepard has also accused the Australian government of turning a blind eye to the slaughter, claiming that some whales were killed in the Australian Whale Sanctuary.
Sources: NPR, Reuters, ABC

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