IT IS what whale scientists – not to mention conservation groups worldwide – have been saying for years. Now the International Court of Justice has agreed, ruling that Japan’s scientific whaling in the Antarctic is not, in fact, terribly scientific (see “Japan ordered to stop ‘scientific’ whaling“). Japan had long claimed it was.
Under the international convention on whaling, science was the only legal reason to hunt whales. Many Japanese survived on whale meat after the second world war, and Japan wanted to keep its harpoon hand in. It became an issue of national pride – no one likes being dictated to by foreign whale-huggers.
The court ruling will allow Japan to stop killing whales without loss of face. It may be relieved to do so, as few Japanese buy whale meat and the hunt soaked up government subsidies.
Now maybe Japan can start doing real whale science. In a warming world, we, and the whales, need it.
This article appeared in print under the headline “Whale science needs you Japan”
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