Wednesday, May 24, 2006

"Research whaling fleet" leaves to catch 260 whales in northwestern Pacific

OK, I admit that I put the quotes in that headline, which are not there in the original. I particularly like this line from the news article:
The fleet will return to Japan in mid-September after collecting such data as the stomach contents of whales, and chemical pollutants accumulated in whale bodies before they are sold at fish markets in November.
I do wonder if they will actually publicise the chemical pollutants accumulated in whale bodies before selling the meat? The cynic in me thinks not. Probably the unsellable meat will just be dumped on schools (and perhaps hospitals) anyway...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

jeez, 260 whales seems a bit much for research, I guess next they'll call it a "large ensemble!"

James Annan said...

If they were primarily interested in science, one might think they would develop a more efficient sampling strategy...

Omar Basawad said...

It is all a front! There is no way I can accept that all those whales are being used for 'scientific research'!