Sperm whales by the Azores - Portugal
Japan doubles its whaling quota
Bad news for whales. The Japanese whaling fleet wants to carry on killing Minke Whales and now even Fin Whales for supposedly scientific reasons. Must the Japanese eat whalemeat? An online article in the Spiegel collects the facts. But countries like Germany that are mostly meat-eating can only protest half-heartedly, since we hardly treat our own pets and livestock well. Especially at Christmas, I think of the oversupply of different sorts of meat. I don't want to condemn the choice of meat, I just think it is abnormal what a huge supply there is. Meat production burdens the environment with greenhouse gasses like methane and carbon dioxide, which will heat up the oceans. The whole underwater cycle will be disturbed, which will also affect the whales. Not only that, but at higher temperatures the carbon dioxide which is stored in the water will be released. At the same time countries like Brazil cut down the rainforests to make more grazing for cattle, which releases even more methane and carbon dioxide. In addition, fewer plants means less oxygen and less elimination of carbon dioxide through photosynthesis.
