Feb 7, 2008
JAPANESE authorities have hit back in the public relations war over its whaling program, accusing Australian officials of misleading the public.
The Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) today denied two whales photographed as they were dragged bleeding into the whale processing vessel Yushin Maru, in the Southern Ocean, were mother and calf.
The two whales were unrelated, ICR director general Minoru Morimoto said, and the variance in size showed only "random sampling" in practice.
"The photographs taken by the (Australian Customs vessel) Oceanic Viking and which major Australian newspapers published today shows two minke whales, but they are not a mother and her calf as claimed by the media," Mr Morimoto said.
"Our research program requires random sampling of the Antarctic population, and therefore there will be a range of sizes.
"It is necessary to conduct random sampling of the Antarctic minke population to obtain accurate statistical data."
Mr Morimoto said the smaller of the two whales in the Australian Customs photograph was just over 5m in length, while the larger one was just over 8m.
Both whales were female and they "were not lactating", he said.
"The government of Australia's photographs, and the media reports, have created a dangerous emotional propaganda that could cause serious damage to the relationship between our two countries," he warned.
"It is important the Australian public is not misled into believing false information."
Japan has resisted mounting calls to halt its annual program of slaughtering whales in the Southern Ocean, saying it is part of a scientific program.
1 comment:
Even if these two whales are "not related", it is not wise for the Japanese whaling crew to let the Australian officials to take this kind of picture.
Personally, I support Japan's whaling for scientific research and admit the necessity of random sampling; however, they should act more cautiously taking the extreme sensitivity of this issue into account.
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