Whaling in Japan

Whaling might seem like an activity the happened in the past, but it is a very contentious activity that is still occurring today in Japan. In one year, Japan kill approximately 1300 whales from 1986. A majority of them are Minke whales but some of them are humpback and fin whales too. A colossal amount of whales has suffered because of that activity. Australia, New Zealand, and environmental groups argue that Japan exploits a loophole by continuing to hunt whales. Despite the ban of commercial whaling, the loophole is found in the treaty of the International Whaling Commission(IWC). In addition, Japan accuses the country of practicing commercial whaling under the guise of scientific research. There are a lot of countries that really want to stop the hunting of whales in Japan.
In June, 2013, The Australian government urged to lodge a formal protest with Japan at ICJ(International Court of Justice) for attempting to force it to stop whaling. People are still waiting for the final decision in ICJ. In addition, a 12 year old New Zealand child got a 5000 people petition saying that they should ban whaling in Japan and urges we should protect the nature and sea creatures in December 2013.

Source: http://uk.whales.org/issues/whaling-in-japan, Yonhap News, the Gurdian, etc.

Image: google image