Japanese Kill 122 Pregnant Whales In Antarctica

Japan killed 122 minke whales pregnant on its last hunting expedition, according to a report to the International Whaling Commission

Areport sent to the International Whaling Commission ( IWC ) revealed that Japan killed 122 minke whales pregnant on its last hunting expedition , in which it captured a total of 333 cetaceans.

The Japanese hunting team left for Antarctica in November 2017 and returned to port last March with 333 minke whales , as part of their “field investigations” in that region, despite a 2014 failure of the Organization of the United Nations (UN) against those missions.

In a research plan published after the UN ruling , Japan argued that it was "scientifically imperative" to understand the Antarctic ecosystem by collecting and analyzing animals.

In a report to the IWC, the New Scientific Program for Whale Research in the Antarctic Ocean explained that of the 333 minkes captured during their “biological field study,” 152 were male and 181 female, and also specified that 122 of these were pregnant .

In the document, reproduced by the British BBC network, the Japanese program indicated that 61 of the males and 53 of the females were not yet adults, but recalled that it reduced the number of their catches and limits themselves to hunting around 330 each year.

According to Article VIII of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, signed in 1946, countries can “kill, take and treat whales for scientific research purposes,” and this is the rule that Japan adheres to continue His hunting expeditions.

In addition, the Japanese government says that whaling is an ancient part of Japan's culture , since communities in the Chiba and Ishinomaki prefectures have carried out that practice for a long time, just as they do in the prefecture. of Wakayama with the dolphins.

However, expeditions to Antarctica for whale meat only began after World War II, when the devastated country depended on whales as its main source of meat, and although the sale continues, it is becoming less popular.

Norway and Iceland still hunt whales for their meat, while in countries such as Greenland, the United States, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Russia persists of subsistence hunting for local communities. However, Japan is the only one that sends ships to Antarctica to capture them.