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WDC2023-007 NMLC Release (16)

Seal Rescued in Marshfield Released Back Into The Wild

For Immediate Release, May 31, 2023 PLYMOUTH, MA - A young male grey seal that...

Norway ups whale kill numbers and removes whale welfare protections

The whaling season in Norway has begun on the back of disturbing announcements from the...
Image taken from an unmanned hexacopter at >100ft during a research collaboration between NOAA/SWFSC, SR3 and the Coastal Ocean Research Institute. Research authorized by NMFS permit #19091.

Southern Resident orca petition to list them under Oregon Endangered Species Act advanced

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted today to advance a petition seeking to protect...
Hysazu Photography

WDC and Conservation Partners Continue to Seek Oregon Endangered Species Protection for Southern Resident Orcas

On Friday, April 21st, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will determine whether the petition...

Japan PM to boost efforts to restart whaling in the Antarctic

Japan’s prime minister has told the Japanese parliament he will boost his efforts toward restarting commercial whaling despite a recent ruling by the International Court of Justice (the UN’s highest court) that Tokyo must stop killing whales in the Antarctic.

“I want to aim for the resumption of commercial whaling by conducting whaling research in order to obtain scientific data indispensable for the management of whale resources,” says Shinzo Abe.

Japan has hunted whales by exploiting a loophole in the 1986 global ban, which allows lethal research on the mammals. But, much of meat ends up in restaurants and on fish markets.

In the summer of 2013, the Australian government took Japan to the international court in a bid to expose the true nature Japanese so-called ‘scientific’ research programme under which it has previously killed over 7,000 whales in Antarctica. During the hearing, representatives from the Australian government outlined how useless Japanese whaling is in scientific terms.

A judgment in the case was delivered by the ICJ earlier this year. The court condemned Japanese ‘scientific whaling’ in the Antarctic region and ordered it to stop on the grounds that it was commercial whale slaughter masquerading as research.

Tokyo then called off its 2014-15 Antarctic hunting season. However, it says it will look at how it could resume the hunts by make them ‘more scientific’.

The prime minister’s comments come after Japan’s “whale week” campaign begins, during which the Japanese people are reminded that whaling and eating whale meat are part of their culture.