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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...
WDC Seal Rescue April 2023 (1)

WDC conducts milestone seal rescue in Marshfield

For Immediate Release, April 10, 2023 MARSHFIELD, MA - A young grey seal was found...

Japan formally announces new scientific whaling programme in the Antarctic

Depsite failing to get approval from the International Whaling Commission (IWC), and with its whaling being condemned by the International Court of Justice, Japan has formally announced today, 27th November, that it will recommence ist unliateral ‘scientifc’ whaling in the Antarctic this austral summer. The BBC is reporting that Japan will start whaling on the 1st December

Whilst recent meetings of an expert panel and meetings of the full IWC scientific committee challenged Japan’s new proposal, NEWREP-A, as not being able to demonstrate that it was ‘reasonable’ to use lethal takes of whales, Japan has unilaterally decided that its own review of its own proposal, “…has completed, to an objectively reasonable level, the key elements of the additional works/analyses concerning the items agreed at SC66a. The results of these additional works/analyses have demonstrated that i) information derived  from the lethal sampling under NEWREP-A will contribute to the improvement of the conservation and management of whale stocks to the extent described in paragraph 3 of 2(1) above, and ii) the proposed sample size (333) remains reasonable even when various  uncertainties are taken into account.”

WDC believes that the world community has to respond to this affront by Japan by collectively condemning this unilateral step. Reports suggest that New Zealand is already working with Australia to see if they could follow up on their cooperation at the ICJ.

An excellent critique of Japan’s decision can be found in the Japan Times  by Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies, Temple University Japan.

In rejecting the IWC process, which has yet to fully decide how to implement the UN’s highest court’s decision on Japan’s illegal whaling,  and Japan’s recent rejection of the ICJ as a decision making body, Japan has once again shown that it is willing to disregard science, international law, and international cooperation when it comes to its addiction to killing whales.

To many, Japan has now really become the pirate whaler of the 21st Century.


[<a href=”//storify.com/ButlerStroud/japan-s-whaling-on-trial” target=”_blank”>View the story “Japan’s whaling on trial” on Storify</a>]