Posts Tagged ‘whaling’

Japanese-born kid (“whale muncher”) nearly beaten to death by bullies in New Zealand

The above photo shows the injuries sustained by Ryotaro Wright, a Japanese-born New Zealander who was nearly beaten to death by bullies:

The teen, Japanese-born Ryotaro Wright, needed emergency brain surgery in Waikato Hospital after the attack at Forest View High School in Tokoroa this week. Doctors say he was close to death.

Four students have been suspended and police are investigating.

Ryotaro’s father Llewellyn said yesterday his son had been racially abused by four students over the past few weeks, including being called “whale muncher“.

Hopefully those that committed this violent crime will be arrested and thrown in jail.

[via 空]

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
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Sea Shepherd gets “spaceship” boat

Radical animal rights group Sea Shepherd will be using Earthrace, a futuristic-looking biofueled boat, in its violent activism against Japanese whalers:

“It looks like a spaceship. It can do 40 knots and dive under waves completely. We’ll be using it to intercept and block harpoons.”

In 61 days last year Earthrace circled the globe fuelled by biodiesel. The New Zealand owner/skipper, Pete Bethune, said he decided to become involved because “this is happening in my backyard and it really pisses me off. I’m going to make a stand.”

He said he was adding half a tonne of Kevlar to the vessel to toughen it against the ice. It had the endurance to go half way round the world on a tank of fuel.

“They won’t get away from me,” he said.

Earthrace’s role was unveiled as the International Whaling Commission heard that Sea Shepherd’s protests endangered the lives of whalers in the Southern Ocean last summer when the Steve Irwin was involved in two collisions.

The second season of “Whale Wars,” a reality TV show that serves as a PR engine for Sea Shepherd’s activities, is currently airing on the Animal Planet channel.

[via JapanSoc]

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
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Praying for the souls of dead whales at a Japanese temple

A fascinating clip from an N-H-K documentary that contains a description of a temple in Japan that has honored the souls of dead whales by giving them posthumous Buddhist names and entering them into a registry (much as one might do for humans who have passed away):

Other whaling news you might be interested in: A whaling town in Japan has hauled in its first catch of the season, as is a village in America. It also looks like Europe will surpass Japan in whaling this year.

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Eating whale may add mercury to your hair

Kyodo News has reported on a study that examined the relationship between whale meat consumption and mercury levels found in human hair:

Mercury levels averaged 21.6 ppm among the men and 11.9 ppm among the women, both of which are about 10 times the national average, it said.

The three people whose hair mercury levels exceeded 50 ppm were all men, the team said. The three men ate whale meat more than once a month.

The study found that mercury levels were halved in about two months if the test subjects stopped eating whale meat.

According to the researchers, those with mercury levels measuring 50 parts per million were at risk of developing neurological symptoms, and it was advised that they cut down on the amount of whale they eat.