Total whale 'population inventory'

July 23 is the World Day of whales and dolphins. This day has been declared more than a quarter of a century ago, when officially banned the commercial fishing of whales.

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For centuries, whales were mercilessly eradicated. They were killed, primarily because of the valuable fat, used as fuel. Even now, despite the ban, some countries still hunt whales. First of all Japan. Officially, in the land of the Land of the Rising Sun it was said that they captured animals for scientific research. But in the end, whale meat appeared on the menu again.

While animal protectors celebrate the public anniversary of a large-scale ban on whale fishing, supporters of whaling are trying to protect their rights to be hunted at the Public Court. International logic. Not long ago there were closing hearings in Hague about the capture of Japanese whales in Antarctica. The Australian government complaint filed in Japan was filed in court three years ago. They demanded to acknowledge that Tokyo violated the Convention in 1986. According to data from Australian authorities, from the time of passing the Convention, it means that over the past twenty years, the whaling boats of Japan has killed over 10,000 whales that were disguised by scientific research. WWF marine program coordinator Konstantin Zgurovsky commented.

Picture 1 of Total whale 'population inventory'
Photo: rightwhales.neaq.org

Can study whales without killing them. Of course, much of this is just a tribute to Japanese tradition. They were used to having whale meat in their restaurant to put on the service table. According to this tradition, Japan is still stubbornly continuing to kill whales. Well, it is acceptable if it is a fish that is as much as a small striped whale, but sometimes they kill rare species - and this is completely unacceptable.

The UN International Court needs to make its decision until the end of the year. Today, whaling has been banned in most countries, including the US and Russia. In the last century, the United States and the Soviet Union are among the leading countries in catching this mammal marine animal. But now whale fishing is only licensed to northern indigenous peoples, but their survival in harsh climates is entirely dependent on whaling. The treaty of 86 brought its ripe fruit. Although the endangered threat of some species still exists, the number of other species is gradually recovering, the mammalian marine expert Gregory Tsidulko has received. review

In recent years, in the Commander Islands, Japanese whales have been found again. Or in English they are called right whale, meaning "upright whales" . The "upright" name is because after being killed the whale is not sinking, as opposed to many other whales. So these whales are always the main target of whale hunters. And they are often destroyed first. Fifteen years ago it was believed that Japanese whales no longer existed.

According to experts, in recent years scientists have been able to meet even a small group of these rare whales. But how much they have in the ocean - it's hard to say. However, it is possible that it will be cleared quickly. It was during these days in the Pacific that scientists were working on "whale census".