I guess it is a matter of how many there are. Minke are not endangered but are pretty close.
A place in my town (suburban Chicago) was busted for selling endangered meat (tiger, lion, elephant, ect...)
Why am I against whaling? Because I think it should have ended in the 1800s when the whale population was almost completely eliminated.
Why am I against the slaughter of thousands of dolphins with HIGH levels of mercury in Taji, Japan? Because it is the most disgusting thing I have seen in my entire life and also dolphins are smarter than democrats. Besides humans, dolphins are considered the next smartest creature on Earth and I don't like seeing them slaughtered in the most gruesome ways imaginable.
As most know Chicago is famous for its old Stockyards. Well there are still slaughter houses in Chicago and they slit the throats of the animals which is a quick death. Harpooning a whale can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours for the animal to die. Spearing dolphins same thing. Just wait to let the animal choke on its own blood.
A lot of people don't realize how brutal the Japanese were in World War II, this was only 60 years ago folks. They bayoneted children. Look at what they did to our troops during the Bataan death march they would bayonet random soldiers for fun. Do you really think a countries mentality can change completely within 60 years?
Watch World War II in HD or The War by Ken Burns and you'll get a good idea of what the Japanese did to Americans during World War II especially our civilians in the Philippines.
Call me racist, but I believe that SOME Japanese have not let go of their violent past and instead of bayoneting infants they are spearing dolphins instead. All in the name of "tradition".
Again, the point is that the Japanese have a different culture than you do. I lived in Wakayama prefecture for a while, have been to Taiji, have eaten whale and dolphin, and see no problem with a VERY SMALL segment of Japanese engaging in whaling. Whale meat is found very rarely in the Osaka area, and I have never seen it in Nagoya, Tokyo, or any of the other regions.
So you believe that whaling should end. More power to you. But there is no reason to send a bunch of hippies out on the seas, just as it is stupid to send a bunch of hippies into China and Korea to bother people about eating dog.
Yes, the Japanese military was brutal to the point of inhumanity in WWII. Japan is a different place now. I have seen it. Furthermore, the “country’s mentality” of today is not the same as the “military mentality” of WWII. Japan has no military, and guns are banned there.
So I say sink the Sea Shepard. Maybe we won’t chase them down and kill the members of the crew for their cultural choice to smoke limitless amounts of weed, keep their hair and body unclean, and punctuate every other phrase with the words “man” and “dude.” Similarly, we shouldn’t chase down the inhabitants of southern Wakayama prefecture for doing something they’ve been doing for hundreds of years.