Media Center

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May, 2007

Japan To Kill Humpback Whales
Whales Beloved by Millions

• Japan has announced plans to expand its pseudo-scientific whaling to include humpback whales and finbacks in the South Pacific, despite a torrent of international protest.

• 98% of Antarctic Humpbacks have already been wiped out by whaling.

• The whales Japan is setting out to hunt are highly endangered and are individually known in the countries they visit during winter.

• Scientists have identified them individually and millions of tourists have marveled at them.  Now these whales are threatened with a hideously cruel death by harpoon.

• Humpbacks that visit Australia, New Zealand, French Polynesia, Tonga, Samoa and South Africa in the winter migrate to the Antarctic in the summer to feed.  It is here that the Japanese intend to hunt theses magnificent creatures.

• The Japanese will not be killing random animals, but ones who are known and loved by many people.

• Whale watching has become a $1 billion industry attracting over 9 million participants within 87 countries and territories worldwide.

• Whale watching in areas of the southern hemisphere, particularly Australia and New Zealand, have attracted a massive amount of viewers and tourists in recent years.

• Economically, in Sydney, Australia alone, the business has made a significant positive impact, as the Sydney operations are now valued at over $2,900,000.  Whale and dolphin watching contributes close to $120 million to the New Zealand economy.

• This is an outrage without parallel. The nation that allows the unspeakable slaughter of thousands of dolphins, that has helped reduce whale populations to tiny fractions of their former numbers, will now hunt humpback and fin whales.

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