The Wire

Nations remain at loggerheads on the second day of the four day International Whaling Commission (or IWC) meeting in Italy. Japan has been lobbying to overturn the current moratorium on whaling – ever since it was introduced in 1986. Up to 2 million whales were killed in the Southern Hemisphere during the last century, and many species were driven almost to the point of extinction. Japan has been criticised for whaling for scientific purposes. But Dr Robert Harcourt, Director of Marine Science at Macquarie University, says that the study they do is legitimate. The chairman of the International Whaling Commission has laid out plans for a return to regulated whaling as early as 2006. However, Japan has said that it intends to undertake commercial whaling again by next year.. Dr Robert Harcourt says this attack is on the commercial whaling moratorium is very serious. And if you think you’d like to try some whale meat while visiting Japan, Norway or Iceland, if you’re an Australian citizen this is illegal. Most Aussies aren’t aware of this, but as Robert pointed out, even swimming with whales in Tonga is out of the question.