Australia is ready to take unprecedented diplomatic action to halt Japan's plan to increase its whale kill, federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell says. But Senator Campbell refused to speculate whether Japan's aggressive whaling stance would be defeated at next month's International Whaling Commission meeting in Korea, where it has applied to kill another 400 whales, including humpbacks.
He was speaking after it was revealed Prime Minister John Howard had written to the Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, saying Australia believed there was no basis for killing the whales. The letter said Australia valued its friendship with Japan but an increase in whaling would cause an outcry in Australia and internationally.
Japan contends that the whale kill is actually a "scientific harvest", upon which research is carried out. I think that this viewpoint is wholeheartedly correct; I wager that the scientific research being carried out has been comissioned by Larrousse Gastronomique.
Whales while being the gentle giants of the ocean are also very tasty. Japan needs to do as much cullinary testing as it can on these creatures before there's no more left. Sure they may be the very ones responsible for the declining numbers, but then how will they be able to say to their children what they tasted like and how best to have used them in soups and casseroles.
In fact I say we obviously need to increase our "scientific harvest" of endangered animals. We need to know about Panda Cutlets, Bald Eagle Wings especially considering we missed out on research into Dodo Egg Omlettes and Thylaciene Steak - and those animals aren't coming back.
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