Why Is Whaling An Important Issue In Japan?

Throughout the 21st century, many global issues have erupted and taken over the world. One of these problems is Sea Mammal Hunting, which occurs mainly in Japan. The Japanese are hunting sea mammals, resulting in horrific effects on the sea mammal population. The organization Greenpeace has addressed this problem. They are working to end this problem by educating about it, through anti-sea mammal hunting campaigns being broadcasted worldwide.

Sea mammal hunting is a major issue in Japan. Recently 333 Minke whales were killed; 103 males and 230 females- most of which pregnant. It was claimed they were killed for scientific purposes (Price). This is a big deal because the Japanese do not see any harm in what they are doing. Japan's whaling
“From the 1900’s, more than 1,000,000 whales have been taken by whaling fleets. One expert estimates that in the past 100 years, more than 300,000 blue whales have been killed” (“1966: The Vanishing Blue Whale”). This shows how the whales are now incapable of keeping a stable population. “One expert estimates that there may be less than 600 of the majestic creatures left in the Antarctic—where they are most numerous—out of a population of sea kings once so plentiful that in 1930 whalers were able to reap nearly 30,000 from the icy waters in that one year” (“1966:Vanishing Blue Whale”). The longer this problem proceeds; the population will continue to subside. 333 rorqual whales were captured under a hunting program, claiming to be researching the contents in a whale’s stomach. The country had suspended its operations in the area after the International Court of Justice banned whale hunting in the Antarctica. Japan began whale hunting again in December when they stated they had created new changes in the program that reduced the amount of whales they caught. They still caused the same impact on the whale population prior to the changes (“EFE World News Service”). Japanese whaling has
They could collect their feces to analyze DNA to find what kind of food they have been eating instead of cutting open the animal's stomach. Not to mention that DNA samples can be taken just from removing a small piece of skin. Nasal mucus, can be easily taken without killing the whale to learn about the DNA of the whale itself. Another option would be to a sample a whale's breath by catching the gunk that comes from the blow-hole. There are many alternative ways that the Japanese can use instead of killing the whole whales and endangering an innocent species (Hooper). An advantage to using this method would be that in the process of retrieving very helpful data, you are not injuring or harming the whale population in any way. A disadvantage, would be it's harder to track down and get enough samples from whales because it is more of a time consuming action. Also, this solution does not mean that Japan will stop their original plan that they have stuck with for the past hundreds of years. This is better than killing hundreds of whales and you still get the same information. Another possible solution to end Japan hunting sea mammals is through the court system. In 2010, Australia accused Japan of exploiting a loophole by hunting whales as scientific research and took them to the international court of justice. Australia asked the ICJ to order Japan to stop its Jarpa II