whale tail
Japan has drafted a plan to extend and expand its so-called 'scientific whaling' programme in the North Pacific to include an annual take of 10 sperm whales and 50 Bryde's whales, in addition to the 100 minke whales it already kills in the region each year. The plan, which has already come under fierce criticism from the UK Government and others, is expected to be strongly opposed by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) when it meets in Adelaide in July 2000; this is unlikely to deter Japan which looks set to begin the hunt soon after the IWC meeting.
The purported purpose of the 'research' is to determine the whales' sex, age and weight and the contents of their stomachs, however (as with Japan's other so-called 'scientific whaling') the underlying purpose of the hunt is to provide whale meat for the domestic market. A Bryde's whale caught in the North Pacific provides four times as much meat as a minke whale, which may help to explain Japan's interest in this species.
