Japan kills minke mother and calf

Crew on the Australian Government's surveillance ship Oceanic Viking have taken a photo of the Japanese whaling fleet killing a minke and its calf. News story here.

Sad, very sad indeed

What is the rational in killing a calf...come on? Really feels like the Japanese whaling fleets are going for broke to hit their quota. Is this really necessary!

Crew on the Australian Government's surveillance ship Oceanic Viking have taken a photo of the Japanese whaling fleet killing a minke and its calf. News story here.

Sad and disgusting image. Hope the petition somehow helps.

if you kill the mother then is also better to kill the calf as the calf won't survive without its mother...

but, I certainly don't understand the logic in targeting a female with a calf..?!

if you kill the mother then is also better to kill the calf as the calf won't survive without its mother...

 

but, I certainly don't understand the logic in targeting a female with a calf..?!

Yes, agree with both statements. Seems silly to be taking this generation, and next as well.

Here's another article and more images/video on the topic:

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0...5006301,00.html

The Japanese have said in this report that's it's not a mother and calf, just an adult minke.... and an unrelated calf. Science does need random sampling after all.

I think everyone must be laughing at the Japanese now for coming out with a statement like that.

Give it time and people will start to not buy other products from the big company's that sell Whale Meat which in turn will make them stop selling Whale Meat.

That would leave the Japanese government with a huge bill and 1000's of tons of Whale meat sitting in their freezers.

Well i certainly ain't laughing...makes me puke..

Don't they have stock piles of useless meat already...

Dive safe

DeanB

In response to the photo of the slaughtered mother and calf whale, the Japanese whalers stated:

"Our research program requires random sampling of the Antarctic population, and therefore there will be a range of sizes.

"It is necessary to conduct random sampling of the Antarctic minke population to obtain accurate statistical data."

Now come on. How much more can they insult the world's (and their own country's) intelligence with statements like this?

"Our research program requires random sampling of the Antarctic population, and therefore there will be a range of sizes.

 

"It is necessary to conduct random sampling of the Antarctic minke population to obtain accurate statistical data."

Are they also going to conduct random sampling of the Arctic minke population to obtain accurate statistical inference?

Altough I dont like this to be happening, i think this would be a good argument if it was really science they're after.

It is time that the japanese whale "research" are introduced to non-destructive sampling methods. Examining stomachs might be necessary to learn what they eat, but by now we already know this.....Their argument would be that they want to quantify that.....

Biometrics, DNA, it is all possible withoud killing the animals.

it is all down how you want to view whaling: is it a resource for meat that you can might be able to use responsibly, or is it a beautifull animal that nobody should be allowed to kill.

Personally, I would choose the second, but on the other hand I do eat meat, fish etc.. I leave the nasty part to somebody else..

I am glad that it is frontpage news on CNN now also.

Japan denied one of the photographs showed a mother and its calf being killed, and accused Australian officials and media of spreading propaganda

Talking about propaganda: http://www.icrwhale.org/eng-index.htm

If you have a question about whales or whaling, please e-mail it to: webmaster@icrwhale.org

Emotional reaction aside... we also have to consider that the whaling WILL NOT STOP as the IWC and even CITES are voluntary organizations that each member country joins.

The Norwegians have ignored the moratorium since 1993 under 'protest' and have continued whaling since then. Even IF the IWC claims all the oceans as a sanctuary, all Japan and Norway have to do is quit the IWC.

The realistic goal is to cap the number of killings and hope it's sustainable. It's obviously not the most desirable solution but is the most practical one.

Vincent that is a classic.

I wonder how many millions the government is prepared to waste for their country before they stop.

I think they need our iron ore and gas more than we need their toyota's and play stations