New data shows that humpback whale populations have been growing steadily over recent decades, and as a result, the U.S. government may take the humpback whale off the endangered species list.

Last year, the National Marine Fisheries Service, an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), received results from an extensive study showing that the north Pacific humpback whale population has been growing 4-7% a year over the past few decades.

If you're new here and you like our articles, how about subscribing free for our updates via RSS feed.

Japan denied accusations that it used weapons against activists from Sea Shepherd Conservation Society on inflatable boats near Antarctica.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said two crew members were injured when Japanese whalers used a water cannon, concussion grenades, acoustic weapons and threw brass and lead balls at them.

“If our crew can hit them, then they would be better off quitting the research vessel and joining a professional baseball team,” said an assistant director of the Far Seas Fisheries Division at Japan’s fisheries ministry.

The Japanese fleet used hoses on two Sea Shepherd boats after sending warnings because the Sea Shepherd crew members threw bottles containing dyes and strong-smelling liquid at its boats.

Japan hopes to hunt about 900 whales.

Sea Shepherd has used confrontational tactics including collisions which are widely criticized by pro-whaling groups and fellow environmentalists.

Japan and the United States are hanging out together in back rooms working on a proposal to allow Japan to engage in “coastal whaling” off its (Japan’s) own shores. The catch is Japan will scale back on the country’s controversial “research whaling” in Antarctic waters.International Whaling Commission Chairman will ” issue a public proposal on Feb. 2 that the commission members will openly debate a month later,” said the Washington Post.

Commercial whaling was banned by the IWC in 1986.  Since that time, whaling nations like Japan and anti-whaling countries like the United States and Britain have been at each others’ throats.

IWC allows Japan to kill the whales for scientific purposes. Japan has a culture of consuming whale meat. But Japan argues that its research activities are legal, in compliance with IWC.

There is a very fat whale chance of the new proposal getting through. For one, if Japan is permitted to whale off its coast, the IWC will not be needed any more, and nobody wants to lost their job..

Japan says it intends to withdraw from the IWC or create a new body unless commercial whaling is somehow allowed again.

Japanese continue to pig out on whale meat. Or is is whale out on pig meat?

“Why do people say we can’t eat the things we’ve eaten since the end of World War II?” asked Koji Shingu, the proprietor of a whale eatery called Yushin in Tokyo, a few blocks from the city’s oldest temple, a popular tourist draw.

Japan has hunted whales for hundreds of years and whale meat is a sentimental favorite of people who survived Japan’s post war lean years. At that time whale meat was the chief source of protein, sometimes eaten every day.

Whale Sashimi

Most whale meat eaters are over 40. Young diners eat whale meat for novelty sake.

Japanese whalers hunt between New Zealand and Chile. One crew member has already been lost this year. PETA? Greenpeace? Sea Shepherd chased Japan’s whaling ships for several thousand miles, threw bottles of rancid butter at Japanese boats and even collided with one boat at sea.

Japan catches primarily minke whales and minke whales are not endangered.

“We deal with a ruthless and cruel enemy whose very reason for being here is to inflict agonizing suffering and to deliver cruel death to gentle, sensitive, intelligent and socially complex sentient beings,” says the captain of Sea Shepherd.

Tokyo calls Sea Shepherds aggressive save-the-whales activities terrorism. It seems the harder knuckleheads like Sea Shepherd try, pro-whaling sentiment in Japan increase.

Can’t we all get along?

I am not very smart. I freely admit that and sometimes readers remind me of it. But, I do believe there are not many whales in Mexico City. I think Mexico City is landlocked. This causes me to wonder, “What in the world are Greenpeace protestors doing chaining themselves to the Japanese embassy in Mexico City to protest whale hunting?”

I get the idea that people are opposed to the Japanese exploiting whales under pretenses of research. But, young folk in Mexico City protesting Japanese activities in the Antarctic? I don’t get that. And Greenpeace wonders why some (many?) people don’t take them seriously.

Advice to Greenpeacers – find an issue closer to home that folks nearby can really relate to. Maybe then, somebody will take your cause seriously.

Source: BreitBart

Captain Paul Watson, co-founder of Greenpeace and helm of the world’s most active marine non-profit organization, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, is a modern day pirate. Oh yes, you’re reading it right. He’s a pirate trying to prevent Japanese ships from killing whales off the coast of Antarctica and so far, together with its crew they spared more than 300.

Most of the encounters were recorded and Animal Planet decided to air them in a new seven-part, hour-long weekly series starting Friday, November 7. After only three episodes, Whale Wars turned out to be the best performing Friday primetime telecast in the last five years with people showing real interest.

Where can you watch Whale Wars?

If you’re like me and missed the first episodes, don’t worry. You can watch Captain Paul Watson and his crew of 34, battling sea sickness, a helicopter accident, a dangerous encounter with a Japanese whaling boat and a hostage situation, on Animal Planet. There are four episodes at the moment and I’m looking forward for the next one. Meanwhile you can watch Animal Planet on YouTube.

Other than being some of the largest mammals in the seas, whales area also known for their “voices”. Call it the whale song, it’s true that the whales may sing to court mates but not only. The biggest Romeo of them all, is the humpback whale which is known to produce repetitious sounds at varying frequencies. That’s a whale song.

So exactly, why do whales sing?

To Find Juliette. Researchers think that the male humpback whales sing to impress their mates. It’s like a beautiful underwater serenade, that we humans call flirting. Usually, only male humpbacks learn to sing because they’re the ones going after the “ladies” – who expect to get found (kind of like humans, right?). And whale singers put the best on the table.

As a communication tool. Even though it’s assumed to have an important role in mate selection, the singing is not just to establish identity and dominance before mating. Recent studies concluded that whales use singing more like a general communication tool to keep communities together. And a good example is when migrating. Singing helps navigate new locales and keeps the group together. Scientists also call it echolocation. It’s the biological sonar of most whales.

Imagine yourself underwater, trying to say something to a fellow diver. Unless you have a microphone, you’ll definitely need to make some noise, right?

Now that you know why whales sing, think twice about whaling. It could be Romeo …

Original images courtesy of gwoodford and Peat Bakke

Though GreenPacks may not have gotten everything right with the Faroe Whale Cull tradition, it’s not a stretch to say that the Japanese are headed out on their annual slaughter of whales. This morning, a Japanese whaling ship left for the Antarctic Ocean to do its ‘research.’

The vessel, Nissin Maru, sailed under the protection of the Japanese Coast Guard … protected from the environmental group Greenpeace. Japan is permitted to catch 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales.

Different than usual, this year there was not a departure ceremony. Japan kills about 1,200 whales annually under a scientific program that studies the feeding habits and distribution of mammals in the seas of Antarctica.

Greenpeace’s Sea Shepherd says it plans to follow up on its attack of a Japanese ship last year when it dumped a foul-smelling acid on the whaling boat and collided twice with another boat.

That’ll show them, Greenpeace. The more obnoxious you can be the more headway you will make…NOT!

The Aussies are putting more pressure on the Japanese and Japan’s whaling exploits. Japan is permitted to kill 850 minke and 50 fin whales each year to prove that whale populations can recover. I am sure there is some logic there somewhere – we can kill to prove that they can survive. And the mean from the whales is sold in Japan as a “research byproduct.”

“Yup, eating this doesn’t kill me. And if it did, it’d be a good test to see if humans could keep the population growing.”

The Aussies will promote, “the government’s objective of ending Japan’s so-called scientific whaling and improving the conservation of whales globally.” Last year the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has sent is vessel, Steve Irwin, to disrupt the Japanese.

“We intend to once again intervene against illegal Japanese whaling, and once again we intend to save the lives of as many whales as we can with the resources available to us,” the Sea Shepherd Prez said Friday.

“We have been the cause of the Japanese whaling fleet losing profits for three years in a row,” he said in a statement. “We intend to make it a fourth year of red ink for the whalers’ books.”

I wonder if the whales know what the Steve Irwin is doing. I wonder what Steve Irwin would think.

Original image by gwaar

There’s a secluded lagoon hidden alongside an island about 700kms south of Tokyo where – Iol says – Japanese fishermen, with the blessings of Tokyo, are slaughtering dolphins. Between October and April of last year, some 16,000-20,000 of the mammals were killed under whaling laws.

The fishermen hammer metal rods into the sea to disable the dolphins’ sense of direction, thus herding them into the lagoon where they stab them to death with knives, hooks and lances. Babies are separated from their parents and pregnant dolphins miscarry, while those the rest are being sold in Japan. Some to animal trainers, while the remainder are killed in a secluded bay.

Parts of the dolphins are processed into pet food and fertilizer.

GP can’t verify the validity of the report, but I am game for heading to Japan, to this island off the coast to see what’s going on and if it’s harm to our good animal friends, try to stop it. Is there anybody who can verify this report?