Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Japan is determined to keep hunting whales. And now it has a brand new
‘mothership’
Norway, Iceland, and Japan are the only three countries that still hunt
whales. While Iceland said it would end whaling this year, Norway, which hunts
more whales than Iceland and Japan combined, has no intention to quit whaling. Despite
criticisms by wildlife conservationists and environmentalists, Japan still hunts
whales under scientific research. But it is in fact commercial whaling for meat,
whose demand has been declining consistently over decades. Nowadays, whale meat
is no longer ordinary food even but a delicacy like shark fins or caviar even in
Japan. Surprisingly, a brand-new whale mother ship set out on her maiden voyage
to Japan’s northern waters. on June 1. The 9,300-ton mother ship is capable of cruising
13,000 kilometers, enough range to travel to the Southern Ocean. It also has
enough storage to freeze up to 2,000 tons of whale meat, enough to feed nearly
all Japanese whale eaters. The ship owner claims that culling whaling is essential
to keep the balance of the ocean ecosystem, which conservation groups and
scientists strongly disagree with. Will the new whaling ship last 30 years like
its predecessor?
Read the article and learn about Japan’s latest whaling vessel.
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