*As a preface, I’m asking a pretty simple question, not looking for debate on it, hope people can keep their answers to claims made by the whalers or to actual studies or data that have come from these hunts. *
I know that Japan is one of the only countries still actively whaling, and the argument is that they are doing it for scientific research. I have checked their website about it and it mainly defends it on cultural or traditional grounds, wikipedia states that they are ‘scientific research hunts to provide a basis for the resumption of sustainable whaling’. Is there any other scientific knowledge they claim to be able to gather through these hunts that cannot be obtained the way most other scientists study whales?
I don’t know about the quality of their research results, but it seems that their methods are considered outdated.
From here, where the abstract says “Scientific whaling is one of the most publicly contentious applications of marine ecological research today. An evaluation of the second phase of Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) program in the western North Pacific (JARPN II) is soon to be conducted under the auspices of the Scientific Committee (SC) of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Previous IWC SC reviews identified serious problems with the programs, yet reached inconsequential conclusions, and the JARPN II review is the first under a new format. The basic design of this study—forestomach sampling coupled with acoustic and trawl surveys for prey—is an unsophisticated approach to investigating the foraging ecology of Balaenoptera spp. Published results of the JARPN II feasibility study demonstrate problems with the execution of field work. Data analyses were simplistic. Non-lethal studies into the foraging ecology of Balaenoptera spp., using far fewer resources, have produced more definitive information. The recent changes in the IWC SC review process should result in unambiguous advice on how to improve the design of JARPN II. If the review recommends improvements that are not acted upon by the program’s proponents, the IWC may need to decide whether the JARPN II program can be considered to be scientific research under Article VIII of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.”
Well, they have to make sure that the whales still taste good. 
I wonder if the US could conduct some old-fashioned scientific research into whether B-29s still work.