Whaling Mother Ship Built in Japan for 1st Time in 73 Years (The Japan News)

[Grey Havoc]

Whaling Mother Ship Built in Japan for 1st Time in 73 Years

<p>SHIMONOSEKI, Yamaguchi (Jiji Press) — A ceremony to mark the completion of Japan’s first new domestically built whaling mother ship in 73 years was held in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, on Friday.</p>

japannews.yomiuri.co.jp

Call me overly suspicious, but, given the timing, I have to wonder if she will also be doing more than a bit of ELINT/SIGINT and acoustic surveillance, along with other types of 'Oceanic Research' on the side.

 

[publiusr]

Not just a factory ship.

They should call it the “Drew Carey” as a middle finger to Greenpeace’s Bob Barker, or whatever…

 

[TomS]

Whaling Mother Ship Built in Japan for 1st Time in 73 Years

<p>SHIMONOSEKI, Yamaguchi (Jiji Press) — A ceremony to mark the completion of Japan’s first new domestically built whaling mother ship in 73 years was held in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, on Friday.</p>

japannews.yomiuri.co.jp

Call me overly suspicious, but, given the timing, I have to wonder if she will also be doing more than a bit of ELINT/SIGINT and acoustic surveillance, along with other types of 'Oceanic Research' on the side.

This is a purely commercial floating abattoir. They aren't even pretending to the "research" angle anymore. Japan is all-in on commercial whaling and this fits with that focus.

 

[Arjen]

“It’s important to protect marine resources, and we are the ones responsible for that,” Kyodo Senpaku President Hideki Tokoro told a press conference in the western port city. “I believe that continuing (whaling) will benefit both Japan and the world.”

 

[TinWing]

This is a purely commercial floating abattoir. They aren't even pretending to the "research" angle anymore. Japan is all-in on commercial whaling and this fits with that focus.

I think that an argument for whaling could be made in regard to Orca pods that attack sailing yachts, if only for public safety. If you’re halfway between the Azores or Canaries and the mainland, losing your rudder and/or taking on water from hull damage is a life threatening situation. With the attacks also occurring off the West African coast, I can only assume there have been unreported fatalities to native fisherman. Pirogues don’t have radios to call for help.

View: https://youtube.com/watch?v=UcL3MUrvIbo

Iberian orca attacks - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Arjen]

Over the years, most whales caught by Japanese:
- Minke
- Sei
- Bryde
Orcas are difficult to catch, there is a limited economic return in catching them. Humans hunting the species is a rare event.
Extract from IWC data https://iwc.int/table_permit:
IWC – Japan: Special Permit Catches (1988–2017)

Area	Fin	Sperm	Sei	Brydes	Minke	Total
N. Pacific	0​	56​	1,359​	734​	2,776​	4,925​
S. Hemisphere	18​	0​	0​	0​	11,380​	11,398​
Total	18​	56​	1,359​	734​	14,156​	16,323​

 

[Dilandu]

If Greenpeace would sunk this bloody tub, it would be the rare case when I would applaud Greenpeace. There is no justification in slaughtering high-intellect species for merely luxurity goods (not anything vital that can't be obtained the other ways).