EVIL: Harpooned mother whale and her calf dragged to their death by Japanese whalers

**Honey** · February 7th, 2008, 04:52 PM

These heartbreaking photos of a mother whale and her calf being dragged to their death by Japanese whalers have been released by the Australian government and greeted with fury by the public.

The photos - showing the adult minke whale and her calf being towed up the rear ramp of a Japanese factory processing ship in Antarctica - prompted headlines including "They call it science", and drew accusations from Tokyo that Australia was trying to fan a diplomatic confrontation. Scroll down for more ...

They call it science: The adult minke whale and baby are dragged onboard the processing ship

Sickening: Blood pours from one of the wounded whales hauled in by a harpoon

Read more...

Amazing picture of humpback having whale of a time breaching Alaskan waters

One image showed what appeared to be the young whale's intestine spilling from an explosive harpoon wound.
"When I saw the photos, I just felt a bit of a sick feeling as well as a sense of sadness," Environment Minister Peter Garrett said. "They're calling it science, but really it's killing whales."
The government had initially refused to release images to avoid angering Japan, the country's second biggest trade partner.
Despite a moratorium on whaling, Japan is allowed an annual "scientific" hunt, arguing whaling is a cherished tradition and the hunt is necessary to study whales. Its fleet plans to hunt almost 1,000 minke and fin whales this Antarctic summer.
Today Norway set a 2008 quota of 1,052 minke whales for its own hotly protested commercial whaling, maintaining the level set in 2006 when it sharply increased the extent of the hunt.
Australia has sent a fisheries and customs patrol ship to the Southern Ocean to gather photo and video evidence of Japan's scientific whaling for a possible challenge in international legal tribunals. Scroll down for more ...

Fury: The images have been released by the Australian government

Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus said the images were "shocking" and added to legal weight against Japan's annual hunt as the Humane Society International urges Canberra to launch a case in the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea.
But in Tokyo, Japan's Fisheries Agency accused Australia of trying to stir public outrage.
"While the foreign ministers of the two countries recently agreed to deal with the whaling issue calmly, it is problematic to release the pictures to fan sentiments," an agency official said.
Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research, which carries out the whaling, accused Canberra of misleading the public and said the two whales photographed were unrelated.
"They are not a mother and her calf as claimed," director general Minoru Morimoto said in a statement. Scroll down for more ...

Japan claims its whaling practices are purely scientific

"The government of Australia's photographs and the media reports have created a dangerous emotional propaganda that could cause serious damage to the relationship between our two countries," he said.
In one photo a banner hangs from the back of the factory ship saying it is conducting "legal research under the ICRW (International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling)".
The adult whale and the calf, which experts said was under a year old, were tied at the tail by cables as Japanese crew looked down on Australian customs officers in an orange inflatable boat.
Another photo shows a whale tethered to harpoon lines at the bow of a whaling ship boarded by anti-whalers last month.
Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has promised a stronger effort to try and stop the cull, although both countries have agreed not to let Canberra's opposition to whaling "influence diplomatic negotiations".
Anti-whaling activists left the Southern Ocean last week to refuel in Australia and the hardline Sea Shepherd protest group will return in a week to harass the six-ship Japanese fleet. "We are anxious to get back as soon as possible and we are doing everything possible to stop them killing more whales," spokesman Tom Baldwin said.

Caught on camera: Harpooned mother whale and her calf dragged to their death by Japanese whalers | the Daily Mail

**Grimmlok** · February 7th, 2008, 05:02 PM

It's not a calf? Then wtf is it?

Wtf is with the Japanese governments obsession at trying to cram whale meat down everyone's throats when it's universally disliked? It's almost obsessive.

**A*O** · February 7th, 2008, 05:52 PM

These 'scientific research' ships are operating in official whale sanctuaries, ie, poaching. When some Argentinian fishing vessel illegally catches Patagonian Tooth Fish or whatever then the Aussie Govt will send a fleet of ships to chase them off and sue their asses. The whales only have a few Greenpeace dinghies looking out for them. I hope this DOES provoke an international diplomatic incident.

**Grimmlok** · February 7th, 2008, 05:55 PM

Hah canada did that in the 90's in The Great Turbot War with Spain. Fuckers kept sending their ships into the Grand Banks to poach Turbot, so we sent them a warning and they ignored it. So Canada sent out a bunch of warships, forcefully boarded them, arrested the crews and threw them in jail for a number of months till Spain squealed for their release.

I believe we also impounded their ships and then broke them apart for materials. We shipped the poachers back on some crappy jet paid for by Spain.

OMG there's a wiki article on it LOL

Turbot War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**MissDecember** · February 7th, 2008, 05:56 PM

**celeb_2006** · February 8th, 2008, 01:54 AM

Sickening

**pacific breeze** · February 8th, 2008, 02:00 AM

Pretty soon there won't be anything beautiful or free left in the world. I'm glad I won't live long enough to see it.

**DontMindMe** · February 8th, 2008, 04:33 AM

Fuckers!

**Aella** · February 8th, 2008, 05:00 AM

I wish someone would torpedo all the bastard whalers. Seriously, I wish death on every single one of them.

**Chilly Willy** · February 8th, 2008, 07:13 AM

^^ Me too.

The pacificst in me gives up.

**crumpet** · February 8th, 2008, 12:25 PM

Originally Posted by pacific breeze

Pretty soon there won't be anything beautiful or free left in the world. I'm glad I won't live long enough to see it.

You said it for me.

**sweetness** · February 8th, 2008, 12:50 PM

I hate these people.

**radha** · February 8th, 2008, 02:32 PM

**tee-ha-ha** · February 9th, 2008, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by Grimmlok

Hah canada did that in the 90's in The Great Turbot War with Spain. Fuckers kept sending their ships into the Grand Banks to poach Turbot, so we sent them a warning and they ignored it. So Canada sent out a bunch of warships, forcefully boarded them, arrested the crews and threw them in jail for a number of months till Spain squealed for their release.

I believe we also impounded their ships and then broke them apart for materials. We shipped the poachers back on some crappy jet paid for by Spain.

OMG there's a wiki article on it LOL

Turbot War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Outstanding! I wish someone would do that to the Japanese whalers.