
Japanese Whalers Killed 122 Pregnant Whales and 114 Babies Last Summer - kimsk112
https://www.livescience.com/62682-japanese-whalers-murdered-122-pregnant-whales.html
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PostOnce
How did it come to pass that only whales are untouchable among animals? In
various countries, dogs, cows, pigs, and horses are seen in different lights.
Why do we care so much about whales and not the above? Why isn't it like the
other situations, where we choose not to eat dogs and horses, and leave those
who do in other countries to their own devices? Because whales can't be bred,
or because they're too smart, or something else? It's a curiosity for which I
haven't arrived at an answer.

~~~
pvaldes
One asian species extinct 2007. A second species from USA will be extinct most
probably before 2020. Maybe this year. We know currently that the Japanese sea
has several cryptic species and a exclusive fauna shared with pacific
countries. Japanese whale Eubalaena japonica is critically endangered, (around
50 animals remain in the planet if I'm not wrong).

So yes, we have solid reasons to do it. Hunting one common species will lead
to collateral damage, honest mistakes or direct abuse against critically
endangered species.

And when we wipe top predators very bad things happen typically, bad for
humans.

~~~
doall
If there is a clear evidence that killing some species of whales, such as
minke whales will cause severe damage to the environment, just create a new
international treaty and then the Japanese government will obey the rules. The
Japanese government states that they are only killing the species that aren't
endangered and also little amount that will not majorly affect the
environment.

One thing to notice is that increasing of whales may also affect the
environment. They eat large amount of fishes that may affect humans if the
number increases. Increasing or decreasing both may affect the environment and
the important thing is the balance of them.

~~~
pvaldes
The old rethoric. Not, this is not the japanese government, is a company, one
of several, and the goal of private companies is to maximize the benefits, not
to care for the environment. For example killing pregnant animals (Something
that is normally forbiden in the laws that regulate hunting in most
countries).

Of course all affects the environment.

~~~
doall
The private companies which are killing the whales are just a proxy of the
Japanese government, which are officially allowed by the government. They
aren't allowed by the government to hunt as much as they want to maximize the
benefits. To build a sustainable business in such regulated field, of course
it is important to obey the laws and also care for the environment.

If the killings of 122 pregnant whales severely affect the environment and if
there is a clear evidence to support such claim, the company should stop
killing them. But if the company is obeying the laws and it's just an
emotional thing, I consider it some other people's business.

~~~
pvaldes
Except that this species is not a property of the government of Japan, neither
lives only in Japanese waters, nor are caught (only) in Japanese coast. So the
"not your bussiness" claim is incorrect here.

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doall
I stated a precondition, "if the company is obeying the laws and it's just an
emotional thing". So if that precondition is not true as you might consider,
then your claim 'So the "not your business" claim is incorrect here' is
incorrect.

~~~
pvaldes
Not. Your precondition was not that. It was more like "If the company is
obeying the japanese government" or the "japanese law" then is fine for
Japanese to hunt this whales

 _in Antarctic waters_

But is more complicated than that. Maybe you don't know that In 1994 the IWC
(International Whaling Commission) created the SOWS (Southern Ocean Whale
Sanctuary). The countries in the IWC decided to forbid commercial whaling in
those waters. Those are the summer feeding fields needed for a big percentage
of the extant populations of big cetaceans to survive. Whales need to feed
almost continuously without being disturbed in summer because they will fast
later for several months when breeding. A zero catch quota for minke whales
was stablished, only allowing to kill a small number for scientific purposes.

On March 2014 the International Court of Justice agreed with Australia that
the number of Japanese scientific research publications were not proportionate
to the number of animals killed (and sold as meat in the japanese market)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Ocean_Whale_Sanctuary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Ocean_Whale_Sanctuary)

"The research conducted in the Antarctic over the last two decades under
Article VIII of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling has
involved the killing of nearly 10000 minke whales and 13 fin whales. The
majority of the IWC's Scientific Committee, and the Commission itself, have
repeatedly said that this "scientific whaling" has contributed little or
nothing either to information needed for proper management of any renewed
whaling under Article V of the ICRW or to better scientific knowledge about
whales in general. In particular, reviews carried out by the Scientific
Committee have shown unequivocally that the JARPA (Japanese Whale Research
Program under special permit in the Antarctic) programme has failed to attain
any of its originally stated objectives"

Source: [https://www.asoc.org/advocacy/antarctic-wildlife-
conservatio...](https://www.asoc.org/advocacy/antarctic-wildlife-
conservation/southern-ocean-whale-sanctuary)

~~~
doall
>Not. Your precondition was not that. It was more like "If the company is
obeying the japanese government" or the "japanese law" then is fine for
Japanese to hunt this whales

Again false. The precondition of the comment you said incorrect was never like
that. Next time you post any comments, please read out loud and be more
careful :(

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rypskar
Is it normal to use baby about a whale calf in English, or is it only used in
the title to trigger emotions?

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spicymaki
Yes it is normal in fact for whales. English speakers use calf for the young,
cow for female, and bull for males.
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animal_names](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animal_names)

English speakers do the same for other sea mammals such as dolphins and
walruses.

~~~
jazoom
I could be wrong but I think you read the comment backwards.

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rypskar
You are right, for me calf is the natural word to use for a young whale. So
using the word baby seems to be to trigger an emotion in readers to set a
state for the rest of the text. Indicating that it is more wrong to kill a
whale than to kill a cow

~~~
jazoom
I think that's exactly why they called it a "baby".

