Japan has already announced that they are going to be hunting whales again, but now they say they are planning to kill minke whales. Minke whales are one of the smallest whales in the world and Japan has made no bones about the fact that they are going to be hunting these small whales.
DOES JAPAN REALLY ENJOY KILLING SMALL WHALES?
Japan has never gone on record as saying they find satisfaction in killing small whales, but they have gone on record in saying that they will hunt them. Japan has stated that they do in fact serve whale meat in their schools and that it is a very common food there. However, the issue is that the minke whales are a minority among whales. Genta Tasunaga, a research leader at the Institute of Cetacean Research in Tokyo, has reported that the population of Antarctic minke whales is much lower than that of any other whales in the ocean. However, the IUCN does mention how minke whales are not a concern for preservation in the world right now. So with that in mind, the killing of these whales does not seem to be much of a problem. Add on to that the fact that the Journal Ocean & Coastal Management mentions how each whale could sell for around $100,000, then this decision for Japan to kill minke whales makes a lot of sense.
ANIMAL ACTIVISTS MAY DESPISE JAPAN FOR KILLING OF SMALL WHALES
Money and population aside, animal activists around the world will most likely not be happy by this news as these minke whales do not sound like they will be preserved. Is this right for Japan to be able to do this? Well considering that Japan has stated that they serve this meat in their schools and to their society, and the fact that they are worth a lot of money, it might just be. Now obviously, opinion means absolutely everything in something like this and most everyone will have a different one. One thing that is for sure is Japan does not sound like they will stop until they are satisfied with the amount of small whales they kill.
