Top ten facts whalers don't want you to know
1. Some 25,000 whales have been killed since the ban on commercial whaling began.
2. Whales are usually killed with an explosive harpoon that detonates inside the whale's body. If the first harpoon fails to kill the whale, then a second penthrite harpoon or a rifle is used.
3. Some whales take over an hour to die.
4. Today, the meat and blubber of sperm whales caught by the Japanese, under the guise of research whaling, is too polluted to be sold on the Japanese consumer market.
5. By the time the International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling in 1986, some whale species had been reduced by more than 95%.
6. There is currently no limit on the number of weapons or bullets that can be used to kill a whale and no upper limit on the acceptable time to death.
7. Japan reported that nearly 60% of whales did not die rapidly or ‘instantaneously' in its hunts in 2002/2003. Norway reported about 20% failed to die ‘instantaneously' in its hunts for the same period.
8. There are only two IWC established sanctuaries in the world. Every year, Japan kills whales in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary, in waters that are supposed to be ‘whaling-free'.
9. The meat from whaling operations, whether commercial or scientific, is used for human consumption. The killing methods fall well short of the standards necessary to achieve humane slaughter in livestock animals.
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