Somewhat with tongue in cheek, I asked at the time whether this animal was a scout for the rest of the herd, looking for a refuge from the Japanese whalers that had now virtually given up the pretence of 'scientific whaling' and were a lot more aggressive about hunting not only Minke whales, but also some other species, all to satisfy the tradition of killing and eating whales.
Today I received a comment from someone calling him or herself Daisk5 to the effect that:
Japanese whale fishing is completely lawful.This diatribe was accompanied by some URLs which then led to other sites where this nonsense was further perpetrated.
And is completely scientific.
In addition, it is a Japanese gastronomic culture to eat whales.
You should refrain from the act of denying the culture of another country.
Initially I allowed the comment to be published on my site. Then I went to look for some indication of who this person is.
The profile was BLANK.
This tends to indicate, to me at least, that this person or agency has no intention of being identifiable and is just sending witless comments after an Internet search for the word "Minke" led him or her to my site some three months after I posted my comment.
Having looked that this, and some of the URLs, I decided that I would NOT participate in someone's "campaign" by publishing the post with it's attached URLs.
I went back and deleted the comment sent to me.
It was at this point and in all fairness that I decided that my readers needed some critique from me.
I do not think that having a "gastronomic culture to eat whales" is any reason why I should "refrain from the act of denying the culture of another country."
Without meaning to be offensive in any way, I am afraid that I would also comment negatively on people who have a "gastronomic culture" of eating other human beings.
Furthermore, I would do everything in my power to suggest through commentary that I find this sort of behaviour offensive not to say threatening!
As to the legality of the whaling, and the outrageous comment that these activities are in fact "completely scientific," I am afraid that I need to point out that the whaling fleet in the Antarctic waters are, or at least were, in an area designated by Australia as a whale sanctuary.
Nothing useful appears to have come from the 'science' that is conducted by the Japanese whalers to help protect and enhance the prospects of this whale species - apart from the (forgive the phrase) bleeding obvious - which of course is to gather data about the movements and habits of this whale species to ensure that the next year's hunt is even more successful.
I really can't see the value of the program for science - but of course I can see the value for those in the business of putting whale meat on the tables of those Japanese and tourists who can afford to eat it.
I did not start out being an advocate of the "Stop the Whaling" movement, but after this incident I am afraid I am taking more of an interest.
One other question I have posed elsewhere is whether millions of people around the planet can actually eat whale meat and still comply with their own dietary laws?
I would imagine that this would be difficult for Jews and Moslems, given their dietary laws. Then again I do not know after all whales are mammals and not fish.
Mammals that swim were not really on the menu in the Middle East. I suppose I should ask my readers if it is Kosher or Halal?
Then of course there is the Indian sub-continent and all those who are of the Hindu faith! What's their position on whale meat?
No comments:
Post a Comment