Submitted by Australia and New Zealand, the resolution seeks to “improve” the review process for scientific whaling programmes – which Japan alone conducts, netting more than 15,000 of the marine mammals since 1986. “We all know that scientific whaling is sham science, and simply commercial whaling by another name.”Japan defended its annual Southern Ocean whale hunt, saying it was gathering scientific data. New Zealand’s commissioner Amy Laurenson expressed her country’s “deep disappointment” with Japan’s resumption of whaling without IWC approval. For Kitty Block of the Humane Society International, Thursday’s vote shrank the scientific whaling “loophole”. “With its continued defiance and its unfettered whaling, Japan is not just killing whales but making itself a true outlier in the community of nations,” she said.

Source: The Guardian October 27, 2016 14:34 UTC