# Money Well Spent?



## Snake Catcher Victoria (Dec 7, 2011)

Japanese whalers get $28m in earthquake cash - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
[h=1]Japanese whalers get $28m in earthquake cash[/h]AM 
By Adam Harvey
Updated December 07, 2011 10:52:27 


*Photo:* The Japanese whaling fleet had a run-in with Sea Shepherd anti-whaling protesters last year. (JoAnne McArthur/Sea Shepherd Conservation Society: AAP) 
*Related Story:* Japanese whaling fleet leaves port
*Related Story:* Japan beefs up security for whaling fleet

*Map: *Japan 

Japan's whaling fleet has left its home port for another turbulent season in the Southern Ocean, this year courtesy of extra money from the nation's earthquake recovery fund.
Three vessels have set sail from the port of Shimonoseki, in western Japan, with a mission to catch 900 whales over the next three months.
The Japanese fleet will have beefed-up security this year after its last season was cut short by the Sea Shepherd anti-whaling group.
The fleet did not get anywhere near its target last season and Sea Shepherd is hoping for a repeat performance.
But there is anger in Japan and elsewhere this year about the source of new funds for the trip.
The Japan Fisheries Agency says the trip's use of $28 million from the earthquake recovery fund is legitimate, because one of the towns devastated by the March earthquake and tsunami was a whaling port.


























*Audio:* Earthquake funds given to Japanese whalers (AM) 
Greenpeace Japan executive director Junichi Sato says it is a massive stretch to link whaling to the earthquake.
"It's not related to the recovery at all," he said.
"It is used to cover the deaths of the whaling program because the whaling program itself has been suffering from big financial problems."
Three Sea Shepherd vessels are preparing to depart from Albany and Hobart in the next 10 days to disrupt the whaling.
The group's founder, Paul Watson, says a lot of people should be angry that recovery money is going to whaling.
"I know there's a lot of angry people who said 'look, I didn't send my money to help the victims of the tsunami only to have you use it to go down and kill some whales'," he said.


*Photo:* The Bob Barker will leave from Hobart and two other Sea Shepherd ships will join them Albany. (ABC, Michael Dalla Fontana) 

Mr Watson says this summer is bound to get ugly in the Southern Ocean. 
"I did ask the Australian Government for assistance," he said.
"I think the responsible thing considering the number of Australian citizens involved would be to send a vessel down to keep the peace, but they don't seem to be too interested in that.
Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke says whaling in the Southern Ocean is wrong and unlawful but there are no plans to send a Customs or Navy vessel.
But Mr Burke says Australia is taking legal action in the International Court of Justice to stop the whaling. 
"Unfortunately as with all legal action it takes longer than you want it to," he said.
"We've taken the toughest line of any country in the world by launching this legal action. We're throwing everything at it."
Mr Burke says spending earthquake recovery money on whaling is not appropriate.
"I don't think it's appropriate for any money to be spent on Japanese whaling," he said.
"Regardless of where money's coming from our position is really simple. There's no shades of grey here.
"We believe the Southern Ocean is a whaling sanctuary and all whaling that occurs there is wrong."
Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt says the lack of an Australian vessel is a weak response. 
"There is a risk of a significant potentially fatal conflict at sea between whalers and protesters and the Government must dispatch a customs vessel by Christmas in order to coincide with the likely arrival of both the whaling fleet and protesters in the Southern Ocean," he said.
Japan say it will have extra security for the trip this year, which is needed to protect a legitimate "scientific" enterprise.
The Japan Fisheries Agency issued a statement to AM saying the Japanese government's aim for the whaling voyage is "to get the scientific data".
The first whales should be caught by the end of the month, with the season to last until March.
*Topics:* whaling, conservation, environment, world-politics, japan, australia 
First posted December 07, 2011 08:44:20


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## abnrmal91 (Dec 7, 2011)

It's ok they will kill themselves eventually due to the high levels of mercury found in large sea mammals or fish when they are eaten. Look at this it's about Minamata disease, it's basically the same situation. 

Minamata disease - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## AirCooled (Dec 7, 2011)

But how many sea creatures will die out before whaling does?


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## Snake_Whisperer (Dec 7, 2011)

Wonder how much of that $28 mil was money donated by countries opposed to whaling? As the world turns...


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## rhysmachine101 (Dec 7, 2011)

This disgusts me.


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## MR_IAN_DAVO (Dec 7, 2011)

Snake_Whisperer said:


> Wonder how much of that $28 mil was money donated by countries opposed to whaling? As the world turns...



Probably Australian money!!!


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## Poggle (Dec 7, 2011)

not happy jan


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## ryanm (Dec 7, 2011)

Poggle said:


> not happy j*ap*an



Fixed that for you


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## thomasssss (Dec 7, 2011)

abnrmal91 said:


> It's ok they will kill themselves eventually due to the high levels of mercury found in large sea mammals or fish when they are eaten. Look at this it's about Minamata disease, it's basically the same situation.
> 
> Minamata disease - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


yea but i bet before each person get the disease they've already had a kid or two that grow up and kill more whales so the disease wont stop anything just shorten their life span


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## miss2 (Dec 7, 2011)

man i hate them


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## moosenoose (Dec 7, 2011)

Why not get those lazy Occupy Melbourne blobs to join up with this lot (Sea Shepherd) and actually do something productive. Now that's a cause I can relate to! All the power to them!


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## Australis (Dec 7, 2011)

Don't Europeans take more whales than Japan anyways ? 
Or is this just Nimbyism :lol:


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## Snake Catcher Victoria (Dec 7, 2011)

The Europeans dont say they are killing them for science..
Also youre right australis, not in my backyard please.


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## HonestPirate (Dec 7, 2011)

Word on the street is that although the whaling fleet has "beefed up" security as per the article; I think you may find this year that there are a whole bunch of cool surprises coming at them this time around, just sayin....


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## Elite_Reptiles (Dec 8, 2011)

Disgusted to think in this day and age that the Japanese still don't get that these beautiful animals are one of the most endangered species on earth. Are they seriously that stupid and nieve? Don't they watch wildlife documentaries over there on whales? They are the most majestic, loving animals that are so vulnerable to attack because of their astounding size and the innocent curiosity shown towards humans.

Obviously they still haven't learnt what Karma is... perhaps another tsunami is in order, but this time a direct hit on the whaling fleet!


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## abnrmal91 (Dec 8, 2011)

What dont you guys kill and eat stuff your studying for science. It's amazing most researches avoid killing things. The way I look at it if they really had to kill the whale to find something out, wouldn't it be better not knowing.


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## slide (Dec 8, 2011)

im pretty sure there are plenty of other things to eat out there. But Japans "scientific research" might just prove me wrong.


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## saximus (Dec 8, 2011)

To play devil's advocate for a minute here are a couple of points to maybe consider:
- I don't think they believe what they are doing is any more wrong than commercial fishing. 
- Minkes are actually less endangered than Bluefin Tuna which Westerners are still happily eating. 
- My understanding is that whaling contributes reasonably strongly to their economy.
- It's incredibly difficult to get an entire country (especially Japan) to change their culture. These are people who still believe Bushido is the best moral code to live by.
I'm not saying these points make them "right" but before we condemn every Japanese person it's probably pertinent to consider things from both sides to try to understand why people do things. I think if a lot of them just saw video of a whale being hunted and running for its life before being hit by a harpoon, many of them would change their attitude. It certainly hit me very hard when I first saw it.


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## abnrmal91 (Dec 8, 2011)

I highly recommend people watch this. Warning it is very confronting. THE COVE | On DVD Now | Madman Entertainment

Its about the dolphins they eat as well. I understand what your saying sax but it's the way they go about it. Japan is paying small Caribbean island so that the vote to support their whale cull. These countries don't even have whales around them.


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## Jeannine (Dec 8, 2011)

*while we might eat tuna and other fish from the sea's we all know we are eating them and in fact a lot of places wont buy tuna unless its been caught correctly, and there are nets around now that allow certain fish species to escape being caught up, also the tuna has to have been caught properly with NO dolphin deaths normally associated with netting them

also i do believe its the japanese that still eat shark fin soup in which they catch the sharks cut off their fins and push them back into the oceans alive

now in this day of so much technology and most of this stuff comes from Japan i cant see why any research they need to be done on whales cant be done this way instead of having to kill the whales. also i cant understand why they need to kill 'hundreds' of whales in the name of research either

so lets call it what it really is, they are slaughtering whales for food and using the old 'scientific research' as an excuse to justify their actions

i also read that a lot of the 'modern' Japanese are NO longer eating whale meat so the government is actually serving it up to children at school at their meal times to try and get them hooked on eating it as most of what they sell in the stores just rots as not many buy it anymore

also to the best of my knowledge other countries that are killing whales for food dont go out and kill thousands but take just enough for them to eat 
*


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## waruikazi (Dec 8, 2011)

There is nothing wrong with sustainable use of anything in the environment. 

I haven't researched this but i have a very strong hunch that i am right. 

The environmental impacts that whaling (hunting a wild animal in it's natural environment) has on the globe are probably far better for our planet than wild scale farming is. 

Let's just think about this for a minute, just green house gases and we'll forget habitat destruction for a while. An adult minke weighs about 15 tonne, a cow weighs maybe 1 if it is a giant. A whale is a carnivore, which means the greenhouse gases it produces are negligeable. But a cow, at a conservative estimate, produces upward of 70 tonnes a year! And that's methane, which is about 70 times stronger in it's influence on climate change than carbon dioxide. That is all before we look at transporting the meat.

If you're a real greeny you should be throwing the whale steaks down!

Save the environment, eat a whale!


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## HonestPirate (Dec 8, 2011)

saximus said:


> To play devil's advocate for a minute here are a couple of points to maybe consider:
> - I don't think they believe what they are doing is any more wrong than commercial fishing.
> - Minkes are actually less endangered than Bluefin Tuna which Westerners are still happily eating.
> - My understanding is that whaling contributes reasonably strongly to their economy.
> - It's incredibly difficult to get an entire country (especially Japan) to change their culture.



We are mates Sax, and I know your intentions are noble here; but I don't know if we can just write off whaling as just a "cultural" thing. I am sure they fail to see why we are so disgusted when we plunder the rest of the planet not only for food but for the elements that make big money. We are all as humans definitely a hypocritical bunch- the Western world more than any; but we have to remember that culture as it pertains to any country/race is constantly subject to refinement, fashion and inevitably _change._

What was once the norm in Asia; shark-finning, whaling, exotic meat eating; is no longer acceptable to the majority of the world; and the idea of not eating whale or shark etc shouldn't be seen to be exclusive to the Western world. Plenty of cultural norms are now passe; for instance remember the jokes as kids we used to tell about chokito bars etc....or how about eeni meeni miney mo..... what I guess Im saying is that as the world has focused more on political correctness, many a cultural norm has been changed to appease the majority with little effect on identity or economy. I don't think it's too extreme to expect Japan to halt whaling, or at the very least restrict it to their own seas so that the population is able to flourish elsewhere, leading to higher numbers which, daresay could _sustain_ ritual culling....


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## PilbaraPythons (Dec 8, 2011)

Whats the joke about the chokito bars Pirate, I haven't heard it. Now do tell, uncle Pilbara loves a sick joke


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## HonestPirate (Dec 8, 2011)

Nope. Although being from WA you would probably enjoy it ya sick miscreant !!!!

ps- Uncle Pilbara"... sounds like a wise old elder t'be sure t'be sure


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## Ricochet (Dec 8, 2011)

Just for the record I'm against whaling and have been on many a cruise to watch and enjoy these magnificent creatures. 

There are many practices in the world that are still undesirable to the many varying beliefs and cultures throughout the world. As "european" aussies we get bent out of shape when someone tries to push their different beliefs on us such as - no Pork in school sangas - so we don't upset the Muslims. The japs probably feel the same way about the rest of the world trying to dictate their beliefs.

But in saying this, we Aussies claim Australia and Antarctic waters (Southern Ocean) as our own, yet we do not defend it. Why are we letting the Japanese hunt in our waters and not send the Navy down to sieze their whaling vessels. It should be seen that they are invading our territory if we firmly believe that these are our waters even if they don't acknowledge it.. I'm sure there would be political and economical backlash, but who really needs who in the overall scheme. We want Jap products, but without the resources we sell to them they couldn't make half of them. They also need our market. We "Aussies" have rolled over and taken it. Our ancestors who fought for our way of life would be rolling in their graves if they knew we were such a bunch of soft ons.

I think we should send them an SOS signal - Sink On Sight


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## cement (Dec 8, 2011)

The samurai does not change his mind. He makes a decision and lives by it, this is his way. This was told to a friend of mine by a very strong and influential Japanese martial artist, who is alive to this day. He himself was highly respected worldwide for his accomplishments as a full contact karate fighter, then he made a decision that lead him down a path that lost him a lot of respect. Because he was samurai, he now could not apologize nor turn around and accept his mistake, he had to keep living it and push on, even though he knows he is wrong and the further he goes the worse it gets.

My friend who is also highly respected fighter and teacher both in Japan and Australia, said it made him feel uncomfortable to hear his former friend say what he said. He asked him "so if you are driving down the road and turn left instead of right, you just keep going?". In Australia, we can just turn around, make our apologies for wasting our passengers time and go the right way.

But that is cultural difference. I have many good Japanese friends, and love aspects of their history and culture, but It is their own stupid pride that keeps the whalers on this path of destruction, regardless of the fact that the meat is not even real food. 

If man was supposed to eat whale he would live in the ocean.


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## Monitor_Keeper (Dec 9, 2011)

-.-


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## moosenoose (Dec 12, 2011)

It's not the tuna I like, it's the side-serve of dolphin


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## mrkos (Dec 12, 2011)

Japanese may be alot of things but they certainly not stupid they are an old culture who have utilised the ocean for centuries for their primary source of protein they are not fortunate like us where we have ample space to farm our own red meat in fairly large quantities making it readily available. Considering the age of our country and our extinction rates we shouldnt be pointing the finger at anybody. For the record I hate whalers and I love whales


Jungleman said:


> Disgusted to think in this day and age that the Japanese still don't get that these beautiful animals are one of the most endangered species on earth. Are they seriously that stupid and nieve? Don't they watch wildlife documentaries over there on whales? They are the most majestic, loving animals that are so vulnerable to attack because of their astounding size and the innocent curiosity shown towards humans.
> 
> Obviously they still haven't learnt what Karma is... perhaps another tsunami is in order, but this time a direct hit on the whaling fleet!


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## longqi (Dec 12, 2011)

The post about Tuna being exterminated was a very valid one
Atlantic Blues are very nearly beyond saving
Pacific Northern Blue and Southern Blue will reach critical status in less than 5 years
The tonnage would be a lot more than 900 minke whales would even come close to

Nearly every tuna from South Australia is the end result of of huge slaughter
Planes track entire schools of baby blues
Fast purse seiners catch the entire school
25% survive to be fattened up
The 75% are used as feed and cat food
So 100% of a genetic strain is removed forever to grow 25% that is then killed after fattening
Advances have been made with breeding
But still not a viable proposition

I ran a long liner out of Milne Bay for 18 months
Just my boat would meet a factory ship in Sundes Straight every 14 days and drop a minimum of 20 tonne
Netting tuna using dolphin free nets etc is a joke as 99% of the tuna are damaged and only suitable for canning

Only possible sustainable tuna fishery is deep set Long Lining

Yet we pride ourselves on our wonderful tuna fishing/farming, which is a very new industry, and condemn Japan for carrying on ancient traditions. albeit with modern methods

After seeing the huge increases of whales in Australian cosmopolitan areas over the last 20 years; I very much doubt that most species could be classified as 'most endangered on Earth'
Anti whaling is a huge industry that generates many many many millions of dollars
Where does it all go?
Sea Shepard most definitely doesnt get it yet they are the guys in the van guard???

Walk up to anyone and ask for money for whales, apes or tigers and elephants and chances are they will donate
Ask for money to save snakes and see how you go

I dont support whaling by any means
But we shouldnt really be throwing stones


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## Elite_Reptiles (Dec 12, 2011)

Yes, and the money you donate longqi to save the whales or in this case... 'save the japanese people after being hit by a devastating tsunami' goes were?... Straight to the whaling fleet of course!


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## waruikazi (Dec 13, 2011)

Pretty sure Japanese whaling is still an industry that would need support to get going again. These are real people's livelihoods that were belted by the tsunami and earthquake, they have just as much right to the money donated as anyone else.



Jungleman said:


> Yes, and the money you donate longqi to save the whales or in this case... 'save the japanese people after being hit by a devastating tsunami' goes were?... Straight to the whaling fleet of course!


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