RAUSU, Japan - People packed the decks of the Japanese whale-watching boat, screaming in joy as a pod of orcas put on a show: splashing tails at each other, rolling over, and leaping out of the water.In Kushiro, just 160 kilometres south of Rausu, where the four dozen people laughed and cheered, boats were setting off on Japan’s first commercial whale hunt in 31 years.
Whale-watching is a growing business around Japan, with popular spots from the southern Okinawa islands up to Rausu, a fishing village on the island of Hokkaido, so far north that it’s closer to Russia than to Tokyo. “You don’t just see one type of whale here, you see lots of them,” she said. “Whale-watching is a huge tourist resource for Rausu and this will continue, I hope.”
Yet Japan, under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe - himself from a whaling district - left the International Whaling Commission and returned to commercial whaling on July 1. “But looking to the future, if you don’t eat whale, you forget that it’s a food,” he said. “If you eat it in school lunches, you’ll remember that, you’ll remember that it’s good.”
“Whale eating in a sense is ideal - it’s different, it’s well-known, and for better or worse, it’s very famous,” Morishita said. “Taking advantage of this IWC withdrawal, I think there are business chances that are viable.”For Rausu, on Hokkaido’s remote Shiretoko Peninsula, the viable business is whale watching.
They'll figure it out eventually... sigh.
tru dat!
Then WHY DID THEY RESUME KILLING THEM? Are they stupid?
it might be even larger if they stopped killing them completely! they are mammals after all
So what....
Meanwhile, we in Australia continue to export live animals for slaughter, even after the disgraceful footage showing how much these animals suffer on board. We have no right criticizing Japan for whaling-none at all.
Barbarians! Leave the whales alone. These people will eat anything not nailed down.
Hunting whales...should be banned. It's 2019. Cultural practices be damned.
😮😮😮😮😮NIce