Now Will You Stop Killing Whales, You Bastards?

The Japanese supposedly go whaling for "scientific research" purposes.   Hard to tell what they're looking for.    Maybe they're exploring new ways to kill whales or the process by which they die when you explode stuff inside them.   But they were probably killing them for the same purpose they slaughter dolphins - for meat to throw on grocery store shelves at home.

Well it turns out the Japanese are losing their appetite for whale meat.   Of last year's 1,211 tonnes harvested, 908 went unsold despite 13-auctions.

The Institute of Cetacean Research blamed low demand on the complicated auction procedure and reluctance among food suppliers to attract criticism from anti-whaling groups such as Sea Shepherd.

"We could not achieve the results we had anticipated," an institute official told Kyodo.

Maybe it's time the Japanese just packed it in.

Don't Allow the Slaughter of Anything More Intelligent Than Your Presidents

Thanks to George w. Bush, that would cover all species of whales and most primates, maybe even a couple of wallpaper patterns. Unfortunately America seems to be moving the other way.

The Environmental News Network reports that the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service is moving to strip the humpback whale of its endangered species protection in the north Pacific.

Since an international ban on their whaling in 1966, populations of the north Pacific humpback have increased about 4.7 percent each year, researchers say. An estimated 18,000 to 20,000 humpbacks now exist in the north Pacific.

Oh great, we'll let the Japanese cull that herd when the herd that really needs thinning is us, mankind.

Save the Planet - Eat Whales

That little bit of despicable perversion comes from a Norwegian pro-whaling lobby, the High North Alliance.

Here's their thinking. They've done a survey that shows harpooning whales is environmentally less damaging than raising livestock. From the Environmental News Network:

"The survey, focused on whale boats' fuel use, showed that a kilo (2.2 lbs) of whale meat represented just 1.9 kilo (4.2 lbs) of greenhouse gases against 15.8 for beef, 6.4 for pork and 4.6 for chicken.

Greenhouse gas emissions caused by one meal of beef are the equivalent of eight meals of whale meat," the study said."

Now, what the Alliance's study overlooked is that the best environmental solution is actually to harpoon Norwegian whalers themselves. Not only is it cheap and effective, it eliminates your dinner's greenhouse gas emissions for decades. Hey Svend, get over here!