Now that Paul Watson and his Sea Shepherds have driven the Japanese whaling fleet from the Southern Ocean to end their whaling season early, the question arises as to what's next for Japanese whaling. Tokyo confirms the whaling fleet has been called home, ending the 2010 - 11 season, but leaves open possibilities of returning to the Antarctic next year.
Of course if Japanese whalers return to the Antarctic seas they will face Watson and his fleet - probably stronger and more imaginative than ever. In addition, international law regulating shipping in the Antarctic will mandate, as of August 2011, that machinery using heavy oil be replaced by devices running on light oil. That is not massively expensive but would require a refit of the factory ship Nisshin Maru in times when the bogus scientific whaling operation is not coming close to paying its way through the sale of whale meat.
In addition the factory ship is old and dottering. She has had two fires in recent years that, had they gotten out of control, could have unleashed devastating pollution in the sensitive Antarctic ecosystem. Is building another factory ship an option? I don't think so. I was on the Nisshin Maru some years ago when she tied up in Japan. It was like being on an aircraft carrier. There could be no economic incentive for building another of these goliaths when sales of whale meat are falling and huge, unmarketable stockpiles of whale meat are stuffing freezers in Japan.
Japan's bureaucracy is by no means united in support of whaling. The Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Trade and Industry have spoken internally against whaling as something that damages Japan's image and commerce. But Japan's Fisheries Agency is so powerful it has been able to override opposition to whaling. This is the same agency that supports the slaughter of thousands of dolphins in Japan.
The fisheries agency has tried to expand the take of dolphins. Taiji, the town made infamous by the film The Cove, built an expensive new abattoir in hopes of expanding output of dolphin meat. But interest in dolphin is declining as more people become aware of the levels of mercury and other contaminants in the meat.
Japan also hunts whales in the Northwest Pacific. Likely the Nisshin Maru will depart for these whaling grounds in May. In recent years they've taken Bryde's, sei, sperm and minke whales. This hunt takes place in Japanese territorial waters and would not be accessible to Sea Shepherd action. But there are reasons to question the wisdom of hunting these populations of whales. Sperm whales taken in past years were declared unit for human consumption due to high levels of pollutants in the meat.
An emerging element in the calculus over whaling is the presence of disease antibodies in many marine mammals around the world. Kazue Ohishi of the University of Tokyo and his colleagues discovered pathological and seriological evidence of Brucella infection in baleen whales taken in the Northwestern Pacific. Brucellosis is a disease with proven zoonotic potential. It can spread from one species to another. Workers exposed to contact with animals or meat -- such as slaughterhouse workers, farmers, and veterinarians -- are at high risk of this serious disease. The possibility of transmission of Brucellosis from raw whale or dolphin meat to humans is a very real possibility.
The increase in diseases such as Brucellosis among immune suppressed marine mammals is another sign of the deterioration of the ocean environment. It is a brutal absurdity that whales be hunted in such a circumstance.
Hardy Jones is executive director of BlueVoice.org and author of forthcoming book The Voice of the Dolphins.
Follow Hardy Jones on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@BlueVoiceOrg
And how did they discover this evidence? Through scientific research whaling. Japan has spent, at least, tens of millions of dollars and 20 years on whale research. JARPA II has provided much data on Fin whales in the Antarctic. How many other countries have provided data on them? Japans' research whaling has produced much data on Sperm and Sei whales in the North Pacific. What other country has provided an equal amount of data on these whales? What data has Russia provided in their annual hunt of 130 Gray whales? Various countries complain about Japans' research programs yet they do little, if any, research themselves and provide little or no data at all.
In addition, so-called "environmentalists" who want to "save" the oceans turn a blind-eye to the fact that SS is and has been polluting the "pristine" Southern Ocean with beer bottles, smoke bombs, flares and plastic paintballs. As well has hurling chemicals such as butryic acid and paint into the ocean. Every bit of trash and every ounce of chemical that is thrown into the ocean contributes to ocean pollution.
MOST data can be obtained by benign methods. To date, the only way to acurately determine a whale's age is thru lethal means. In addition, you can only obtain data if you can catch the whale, as Australia found out last year. In their vaunted non-lethal research they were unable to obatain ANY data of ANY kind from Minke whales.
I never said nor implied that the motive of Japans' research was solely to obtain scientific information. Their purpose is to provide scientifc data, as REQUIRED by the IWC, in order to ultimately resume a limited and sustainable hunt of some whale species, such as Minkes.
You scoff at Japans' research, yet you offer no evidence of any other country providing ANY research at all. I will ask again: What other country has provided an equal amount of data on whales as Japan has? What country has provided data on Sperm whales, for instance?
You also neglected the fact that SS is and has been polluting the ocean with various items of litter and chemicals. Do you agree or disagree with that?
Although for some my thoughts may seem a bit of "a stretch", I noticed something while blogging and studying the vast internet and the comments made by government officials and press alike. Specifically Gray Whales.
From what I understand, Grays have not been placed on the endangered list because recent counts place them at roughly 20,000 and "on the increase". Recent press has been pushing this notion along with comments by anonymous researchers that the sea may not be able to sustain the increase in the gray whale population.
Gray whales used to be in numbers of well over 100's of thousands, prior to hunting them en masse, about 100 years ago. And now, a population of 20,000 cannot be sustained in the ocean?
Enter the Japanese and, unfortunately the U.S. The US Marine and Wildlife will not grant these whales a place on the endangered list. Why? I am hoping that it is not because of underhanded talks with the Japanese on hunting these mammoth creatures.
And knowing the recent "diplomatic but quiet" talks between the U.S. and Japan recently disclosed by Wikileaks regarding the whaling in the Southern Seas, I wonder.
It just seemed too easy that the Japanese quit mid season.
Doesn't make sense.