Why do the Japanese hunt whales?

Answer 1

== == == == The official reason that Japan gives for whale hunting is "scientific research". They say the only way to determine the whale's age is to kill it. The purpose of the "research" is to prove that whale populations have improved enough to allow commercial whaling which was banned by the International Whaling Commission in 1986. However, the whale meat is sold as a delicacy. It is likely this is the real reason for the whale hunting. In recent years activists have disrupted whale hunting in the arctic.

Answer 2

Japan continues to hunt whales despite their endangered status. Today, whale meat makes up one-quarter of the Japanese diet. Seemingly, the more other countries chastise the country for whaling, the more it hunts this endangered animal.

Answer 3

Even though there are 80 different types of whales, there are only a few species that are hunted for meat and other products.
These include blue whales, Minke whales, Fin whales, humpback whales, sperm whales and grey whales.

Answer 4

The answer is yes.

Japanese vessels usually hunt whales in Australian Antarctic Territorial Waters, which is the two-hundred nautical mile extension out from Australia's Antarctic Territory. It was claimed by the British in 1841, and subsequently given to Australia in 1933. This claim is not affected by the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, which prohibits future claims, and is not retrospective. And because of this, the Antarctic territory is Australian and the two-hundred nautical mile extension is also Australian territory.

Answer 5

Minke and Humpback whales