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| NEWS FLASHTen (10) orcas were trapped by Japanese fishermen on Friday (Feb 7th) when they placed a giant net across a bay near the town of Taiji, about 450 km southwest of Tokyo. Five days later, five of the whales were set free. |
![]() Captured Orca's trained to amuse audiences |
Orca's Captured by FishermenFishermen prodded and lured three others into slings and they were sent to Adventure SeaWorld in nearby Shirahama. Two others remained inside the netted area waiting to be delivered to another amusement park and a whaling museum. It appears that the fishermen's authority was in the form of a permit issued in 1992, but until now, never used. The Dolphin and Whale Action Network, an environmental group, said the fishermen's permit had been nullified in the meantime by new international laws on whaling which make orcas a protected species. Japan, where whale meat is considered a delicacy, has long been at odds with many countries over its interpretation of regulations on catching whales for scientific purposes. Critics charge that Japan uses the guise of scientific study to maintain whale catching for commercial purposes while nearly all other countries have outlawed the industry. But the environmental group said the orcas dispatch to amusement parks is for tourist purposes, not for scientific study. It is believed that Japanese amusement parks will pay up to 30 million yen for each killer whale. An official of the Izumito Sea Paradise, which has rights to one of the two whales still awaiting transfer, said they purchased their female for breeding purposes. |