|
|
|
08 February 2008 Australia release Japan whale pictures [Keyword: Whales ]
Japan said Friday it will complain to Australia after the government released graphic pictures of bloody whaling operations, accusing Canberra of stirring up emotions.
Australian media on Thursday prominently aired the pictures taken by an Australian customs vessel showing bleeding whales being dragged onto a Japanese ship after being harpooned in Antarctic waters.
"We had agreed to handle the issue calmly and avoid damaging friendly relations between the two countries," Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Masatoshi Wakabayashi told a news conference.
"However, Australia released pictures of a whaling vessel and made remarks that don't appear calm," Wakabayashi said.
"We will express our regret about it and call on them through diplomatic channels to act calmly."
Japan has said the pictures were misleading and did not show a lactating mother and her calf as asserted in Australia.
Australia has taken a leading role in opposing Japan's use of a loophole in an international moratorium on whaling to kill the giants of the oceans in the name of research. The meat is then sold in supermarkets and restaurants.
Japan, which will kill up to 1,000 whales on its current expedition, says its whaling is legal and part of its culture and accuses Western countries, led by Australia, of insensitivity.
"We are considering when we should send the message and at what level," a foreign ministry official added.
Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett said that the pictures gave him a "sick feeling."
"It is explicitly clear from these images that this is the indiscriminate killing of whales, where you have a whale and its calf killed in this way," said Garrett, the former frontman of protest rockers Midnight Oil.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's left-leaning government, which took office in December, has ramped up the pressure against Japan's whaling, which is also harassed by non-governmental activists.
Japan resumed its hunt last week after it was disrupted in mid-January by anti-whaling protests, including the boarding of one of its ships by two activists from the militant Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Amid the tensions, a poll published Friday said that nearly two-thirds of Japanese back whaling, although support is waning among the young, particularly women.
The Asahi Shimbun, which took answers from 2,082 people, said 65 percent of Japanese support continuing the whaling programme and that 56 percent of people backed eating whale meat.
Support for whaling was strong among older men, with close to 80 percent of men between 40 and 70 favouring eating whale meat.
But the figure was nearly reversed among Japanese women in their 20s, among whom 58 percent opposed eating whale.
The Asahi survey comes despite other statistics, often cited by environmentalists, pointing out that most Japanese do not eat whale meat, which is rarely found outside speciality restaurants and stores.
Consumption of whale meat has decreased to 30 grams (one ounce) per person per year -- equivalent to a slice of sashimi -- compared with 2.5 kilograms in the early 1980s.
The only nations to defy the moratorium outright are Iceland and Norway, which on Thursday authorised its crews to harpoon 1,052 whales in the 2008 season.
Source: AFP
|
Similiar
Stories in the earthdive news database:
 |
26 January 2008: Whales head back to sea after 13 die
The NZ Department of Conservation hopes a pod of pilot whales at risk of beaching near Nelson has headed back out to sea. DoC spokeswoman Trish Grant said 13 whales had died after beaching themselves near Farewell Spit in Golden Bay sometime on Tuesday night. |
 |
21 January 2008: Saving whales not a joke
No whales have been killed in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary for the past 10 days. If that's not whale conservation, I don't know what is. In yesterday's The Daily Telegraph, Tory Maguire questions how much of what she terms a "boy's own adventure" in the Southern Ocean has to do with whale conservation. |
 |
15 January 2008: Ghost Whales
South Korea has put a price on the head of the rare and almost extinct Eastern Pacific gray whale. They're offering 5 million won (about $5,300) for photos of the whale, and twice that for any whales that happen to be accidentally caught by fishermen. |
 |
31 October 2007: Whales for the Saving
There are less than 400 of them left in the world, and many of them travel to Canadian waters each year to feed. The North Atlantic Right Whale is one of the most endangered whales in the world. |
 |
03 September 2007: Pollution stunts Beluga Whales
The beluga whales make a shrill sound as they stick their noses out of the water, watched by conservationist Michel Moisan. They are a rare sight this far south... |
 |
24 August 2007: Fears fuel spill will harm whales
Killer whales swimming through spilled diesel fuel in the Robson Bight ecological reserve are at risk of health problems ranging from lung lesions to death, says a Department of Fisheries and Oceans research scientist. |
 |
18 July 2007: US Block Speed Limits to Protect Whales
A government plan for ship speed limits to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales is being held up by White House officials due to opposition by foreign shipping interests. |
 |
14 July 2007: Gray whales 'losing weight'
Scientists on the US Pacific coast are increasingly observing emaciated grey whales in what they fear is a sign that global warming is wreaking havoc in the whales' Bering Sea summer feeding grounds. |
|
06 July 2007: NZ whales on verge of extinction
Evidence is mounting that New Zealand's southern right whale population is on the verge of extinction. |
 |
13 June 2007: Right Whales Study
Scientists are studying endangered right whales this summer to learn more about their behavior and assess the risks posed by lobster gear. |
|
|
| Previous
Year | Jan
| Feb |
Mar | Apr
| May |
Jun | Jul
| Aug |
Sep | Oct
| Nov |
Dec | Current |
| Get this as an RSS Feed |
Subscribe to this feed
You can subscribe to this RSS feed in a number of ways, including the following:
- Drag the orange RSS button into your News Reader
- Drag the URL of the RSS feed into your News Reader
- Cut and paste the URL of the RSS feed into your News Reader
|
|
|
|
