Couldn't agree more, but, sadly, we'll still buy Japanese cars, electronics, etc ............. the only way to truly hurt them would be if the consumer walked away. Won't happen though.
Who is going to explain to future generations - "we once had these amazing mammals called whales, rhino, elephant ................"
Whilst it is ridiculous of Japan to restart whaling for scientific purposes [I mean, come on, don't you know enough for now.?] it is perhaps a slight overreaction to say that future generations will be telling their children about the big animals that roamed the seas [leaving aside the land animals]. Although it is rather hard to keep an accurate measure, whales are recovering. The biggest and at most risk of them all, Blue Whale numbers are climbing, for example, and many/most/all [insert correct word as I'm not certain] whale populations are recovering. Not hunting the whale is working.
However, whales could easily be hunted again worldwide. Those countries who do hunt for scientific purposes are basically doing so for economic purposes and finding markets for whale meat. A scientific permit to hunt decrees that the whale meat must be sold for consumption [minimal waste] after whatever tests are done. Amazingly, the permit is issued by the country that wants to hunt the whales, and they set their own limit. So the 300 whales Japan intends to slaughter are what they feel they can get away with, without a big song and dance from other countries. Remembering that Scandinavian countries occasionally feel the need to issue themselves permits too.
In an era of DNA testing, there is no need to hunt whales for scientific purpose.
