Good news: International Whaling Commission rejected Japan's proposal to abolish a whale sanctuary and urged it not to double its quota of killing whales for disputed scientific research.

The Japanese claim they must kill whales to properly study them, including their stomach contents to glean details of their diets, while other nations argue that technological advances mean killing the whales is not necessary.
Japan sells the meat from the whales killed for science, which is allowed under commission rules. Critics call this commercial whaling in disguise.

Are there any information on what the Japanese scientists are researching? Whatever it is, it must be important enough to kill hundreds of whales every year. *snort*

What I really want to know is which way South Korea voted.

Despite the international moratorium on killing whales, each year about 80 minke whales are caught in South Korean waters and about 150 tons of whale meat consumed in the country.

South Korea has no whaling industry. Greenpeace claims, however, its accidental catches are "100 times greater than other countries," and that a mature minke whale can fetch $100,000.

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p dir=”ltr”>Sheesh. That's a lot of oops. Korean environmentalists are up in arms as well but I think the balance is unstable for the moment.