I’m Eastern Orthodox too. I don’t see “except the whales” in that passage from Genesis. Again, the Whales the Japanese are harvesting are NOT endangered. They don’t waste them, they study and eat them. That would meet the requirements of good stewardship over the Earth that is also required of us.
Face it, your only argument is “I think whales are special”.
Not just whales. Wildlife in general.
More birds than anything else, actually.
For some Japanese politicians, the appeal of the pro-whaling campaign is quite clear: Japan can let off steam in the foreign political arena.
As Sato Tetsu, professor of ecology and environmental sciences at Nagano University, says. "It is not really a problem of reviving the whaling industry now; it is a problem of national pride, or at least government and bureaucratic pride. They basically need a symbolic victory."