Elementary schoolers take field trip to watch whale meat processing

Japanese kids tend to enjoy watching a delicious tuna fish be cut apart, but what about whales? One small town sends groups of schoolchildren to watch whalers cut and prepare Baird’s Beaked Whale* meat:

As pro-whaling and pro-conservation countries square off on the other side of the globe, curious Japanese schoolgirl Yuna Suzuki, 10, got a vivid first-hand look at the issue.

Yuna and a few dozen classmates from local elementary schools visited the whale slaughterhouse in Wadamachi, one of Japan’s four coastal towns allowed to catch a small number of the ocean giants.

Clutching a notebook and a pencil, Yuna and her classmates occupied the front row of the crowd Wednesday, bending forward to watch a 10-metre (33-foot) animal — the town’s first catch of the three-month season — be dismembered.

“Look! That’s her heart!” Yuna said to her friends with her face half covered by her hand. “Oh no, so much blood is gushing out.”

Another schoolgirl, Honami Shoji, 11, said, “I feel bad for the animal.”

“But we also eat the meat and appreciate it,” she said calmly. “We’re lucky to be born in this town.”

Schoolchildren of Wadamachi, about 70 kilometres (45 miles) southeast of Tokyo, have watched the whale slaughter since 1999 in this town which is allowed to catch 26 Baird’s beaked whales each season.

If the picture at the top of this post grossed you out, it might be a good idea to stop reading this post before you see these next few photos.

More photos can be viewed at the Daily Telegraph.

*Note: According to Wikipedia, the Baird’s Beaked Whale is not an endangered species and Japan’s whaling program is not believed to threaten the species.