Japan Pursues Whales Regardless of Court Ruling
Despite the thoroughness of the court's ruling, Japan has stated that it intends to continue its whaling practice in Antarctic waters, and to add further insult issued a press release with the country's intent to start whaling in the Pacific Ocean on 26 April 2014, after President Barack Obama concludes his visit. This tantrum-like response has left a large number of global Eco-conscious people ready to put a dunce cap on Japan and place them in a time out for their duplicitous behavior with a stern reminder that the country voluntarily signed the 1986 moratorium on whaling. Since making that global pledge, the country has illegally slain tens of thousands of whales with a large number of them on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) endangered species red list.
Whales are warm-blooded, air breathing cetacean mammals. They live in tightly knit nuclear family units that rival humans. Gestation to produce a single calf is between one and two years and like humans, copulation is not indicative of a pregnancy. The time in between copulation cycles ranges from one to three years. Most likely, copulation does not begin prior to five years of age. However, there is research to suggest that several species of whale wait until they are 15 years old before they enter into breeding cycles. This evolving data supports the hypothesis that whale populations are nowhere near replenished and to continue harvesting them gets us all further away from that goal.
For those interested, please sign the Demand Japan Stop Whaling petition.
Read the ICJ Ruling.
This is Deb Duxbury, for Animal Life, reminding you to please spay or neuter your pet.
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