Japanese whaling

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The UN's International Court os Justice has banned Japan's whaling programme in the Antarctic.
Was there anyone who really believed Japan's story - that they were killing 1000 whales a year for "scientific" purposes?

[Ferretfancy]

The UN's International Court os Justice has banned Japan's whaling programme in the Antarctic.
Was there anyone who really believed Japan's story - that they were killing 1000 whales a year for "scientific" purposes?

That will be great news if they can't wriggle round it, unfortunately the history of all the attempts to ban whaling doesn't encourage confidence. In the case of Japan, there doesn't seem to be anything behind their attitude beyond cultural arrogance. Japanese customers are eating much less whale meat than they did only a few years ago, so as demand drops, why the slaughter?
As the numbers of large whales decrease, it could lead to a situation in which the sheer time and cost of locating them in the vastness of the Southern Ocean becomes a major drawback to this awful trade, allowing the small remaining population to recover.

I've been lucky enough to visit Antarctica twice, and it isn't just whaling that is the problem. Another disaster is coming about because of illegal long line fishing. This is decimating the population of birds like the albatross as they dive and become skewered on the hooks.
I do hope that Japan will comply with this ruling, but I'm not hopeful, I'm afraid.

[teamsaint]

this is relevant too.
The numbers are hard to comprehend.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/mar/01/100-million-sharks-killed-each-year