http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8324667/
Are they any good? Better than beef?
Signed, just curious (and a little sad).
I’m glad I searched on this. I was just going to put something about this in The Pit. I’ll watch my language, but how on earth can the Japanese say ‘research whaling program’ with a straight face? It is a crock for them to want to “cull” more whales for research and then have the meat end up in a sandwich.
Not to mention, what exactly is researched when whales are slaughtered?
Not all whale species are currently endangered. And in Japan’s defence, it is rather hypocritical for the US to criticize Japan - whales didn’t become endangered because Iceland, Norway and Japan hunted them for food. It was mostly the Americans and Europeans hunting them for oil (and throwing away the meat!).
As for the taste, I don’t think it’s all that good. Similar to one of the cheaper cuts of beef, IMHO. But some people love it.
The scientists get to research the tastiness of whale meat, and whether a dorsal ham is better braised or baked?*
*I do not in any way support the killing and eating of endangered species.
Taste it before you slam it. Seriously.
If you think that taste is what we are upset about, you are really missing the point.
To be devil’s advocate here, where the meat ends up has no bearing I can see on whether or not the whales are validly hunted for research.
They could conceivably be killed for a valid scientific reason, that leaves the meat intact for sale. Why throw it out?
I have no clue what is being researched, but where the meat ends up seems somewhat unrelated.
The point is that they’re not being hunted for research; the research is just a flimsy excuse to hunt them for meat.
That should read “the alleged research…”
If they were hunted purely for valid scientific reasons, would they have to throw the meat out?
From the story
I don’t know if everything that I quoted from the story is accurate, but lets assume it is. We have a commercial interest that wants to preserve the culture of whale eating. We have a ‘scientific’ interest that wants to double the amount of whales culled for research. Lastly, we have a commercial interest that is funding said scientific research. To me, this smells whaley (sorry).
Where is this whale research even published?
So, can you get some giant ribs there? Howzabout whale-brisket? Mmmm, brisket…
We’re gonna need a bigger grill!
Its not about wasting meat… its about lousy excuses for hunting whales ! I agree that throwing away the meat would be a waste… but its not the issue.
Are the whales endangered or not? If not, it really seems to me like we’re condemning them over a sentimental cultural prejudice.
Oh, I believe they’re really hunting whales for the meat. It’s just that the fact that they eat this meat isn’t evidence of that, since meat from whales hunting for purely valid scientific means would likely be eaten too.
Eight whale species are on the US Fish & Wildlife Service’s Threatened and Endangered Animals and Plants list, but the Minke whale isn’t one of them. Wikipedia says the Minke whale population is “order of 150,000 in the North Atlantic, 25,000 in the North Pacific, and 750,000 in the Southern Ocean.”
I was at first pissed off about this issue when I first heard about it, and like many others jumped onto the “Research is a flimsy excuse for hunting” bandwagon. But what I really want to know is why havent the Japanese government released what kind of reserch is being done. If it really is legit well then, tell us why the research pool needs to be doubled, and as long as it doesnt break any regulations with any endarged species, and wont harm the species in the long run, go for it. But it does seem strange that with all the controversy the subject of what they are researching has not come up.
Whaleing for cultural reasons is not only a problem in Japan. Many Native North American cultures are requesting to hunt whales again for cultural reasons. To that, and to the Japanese whale hunt, I say if it is for cultural reasons, then use the hunting method that was used in the culture you are trying to protect. Sorry folks no guns.
But then again I think that hunting with guns would be more fair if the animals had guns too. If you want to call it a sport then make it more difficult. i have all the respect in the world for bow hunters. But thats a different thread all todether. 
Why do you think they haven’t released this information? A few minutes on Google found plenty of information, like those linked here.
So how old does a particular practice have to be to be considered “cultural”? Guns have been around for hundreds of years, so I guess nothing (non-native) Americans do can be defended as “cultural”?
Reading the titles of some of the articles from that link here, I have to say that I see nothing that requires the actuall killing of whales.
Minke whales may not be endangered, but how does killing them help with understanding things like “Overview of the minke whale sighting survey in IWC/IDCR and SOWER Antarctic cruises from 1978/79 to 2000/01”?
Studying the behavioral pattern of animals usually involves finding out what they ate. It’s difficult to collect whale poop, except by killing one and examining its stomach contents. Also I understand it’s difficult to collect DNA samples without capturing a whale, and it’s difficult to capture one without killing it.
But of course “research whaling” is just a loophole, being exploited because it’s the only way to keep the whaling industry alive. That doesn’t mean there’s no useful science being done.