Fears over Japan porpoise hunting

[lock_washer]

Saw this article today about porpoises being hunted in Japan

Al Jazeera English - Asia-Pacific - Fears over Japan porpoise hunting


With all the media attention going on with: the "Whale Wars" in the Antarctic, the Dolphin Slaughter in Japan brought to life with "The Cove" movie, and the recent killer whale trainer death at Sea World...we seem to forget that other "cetaceans" that are in trouble that don't generate any interest by the public.

Infact, the World Wildlife Federation put out these links and PDF's on the smaller whales, and porpoises facing the greatest threats.

WWF - Disappearing dolphins clamour for attention at whale summit

http://assets.panda.org/downloads/small_cets_report_4_web.pdf

Lock Washer

 

[lock_washer]

huh...no interest in this thread at all.

 

[nikcre]

Lovely Japan.They kill anyting that swims or breaths in the sea.I just saw the oscar winning documentary "The cove" and i really believe that they just don't care about sealife.It has nothing to do with tradition. Its just about money and regardlessness.
The Cove Movie: Welcome
YouTube - The Cove Trailer

 

[drbill]

@Nikcre: Of course there are few developed countries that don't have skeletons in their own closets including my own country which killed most of the American bison for "sport," to eliminate a food source used by the "Native" Americans and to open up the land for cattle grazing and the railroad. And then there was own own whaling industry in the 1700s and 1800s.

@Lock_Washer: Yes this kind of thing interests me. Thanks for posting it. I love the Dall's porpoise... once had a pod of them swim alongside my boat. One female had a young 'un alongside her which was about the length of a football (American).

 

[lock_washer]

Interesting note: Its always the Humpbacks, the Greys, Sperm, Blues, Minkies, Killer Whales, and bottlenose dolphins that always seem to catch everyone's attention. Whether its whaling, the japanese dolphin slaughter, or captivity: it always makes the news and generates the most public interest.

However, when it comes to the beaked whales, river dolphins, porpoises, or some of the lesser known cetaceans...nobody cares. Granted they don't look attractive and "sexy on film" as the ones I listed above. But if you are a true whale and dolphin lover...you should care for all cetaceans. I wish all the interest, media coverage, controversy from the "Whale Wars", "The Cove", and the "Sea World Killer Whale Incident" would be put towards saving the Gulf of California Porpoise "The Vaquita". That porpoise is down to 150 animals left. In two years, it will go extinct from all the gillnet entanglements. The Chinese River Dolphin "The Baijia" just went extinct last year. The Maui Dolphin off New Zealand is down to 111 animals left, with that being the next cetacean to go extinct.