According to this BBC article, whales, camels, pigs and hippos are all related.
I realize that it’s a bit of a stretch to connect whales to pigs, but I do have to wonder what would happen if DNA analysis tightly connected an animal considered “clean” with an “unclean” animal. Would that change how it’s considered? Or would people just say, “Well, it wasn’t forbidden, so even though they’re related, we don’t have a problem with eating them.”?
Probably not. Which animals are kosher and which are not is at least as much a function of tradition as it is of biology. I really don’t see rabbis today declaring that new biological evidence indicates that an animal that has traditionally been considered non-kosher is now kosher.
And even if they were biologically kosher it would be impossible to slaughter one in the approved manner (single quick slash of the throat with an unserrated knife that cuts the veins, arteries and windpipe)
Didn’t this discussion occur about tuna? And I want to say nomething like javolinas as well, though “javolina” may not be the animal that was under discussion.
This reminds me of a B. Kliban cartoon. A bunch of Jews (black frock coats, black hats, beards, etc.; Star of David flag) with harpoons in a whale boat are nose-to-nose with a whale. Dialog balloons over the lead whaler and over the whale: