Japan wants to kill humpback whales

I love most things about Japan, but it angers me when they want to start killing humpback whales. Other countries have condemned Japan's intentions and some are calling it a provocative act. From ChannelNews Asia:

Japan's proposal is an "extraordinary provocative gesture to the people of New Zealand and we are asking you as a measure of goodwill to build better dialogue," Carter said.

"If there is one thing the Japanese government can do at this meeting ... it would be to drop the humpbacks from the program," he said. "It is a very, very provocative act."

He said Tokyo's humpback blitz was a "calculated" move "to undermine dramatically the standing, the affection, the relationship between the Australian and the Japanese people".

The fate of the endangered mammals is not "a matter of horse trading and negotiations", Britain's Biodiversity Minister Barry Gardiner said.

I love the humpbacks and other whales too since my number 1 favourite animal is the dolphin - dolphins and whales come from the same family. Human beings have been killing whales for centuries. Countries like Japan and Norway have the need to keep killing whales because it is part of their heritage/culture but killing 50 humpbacks this summer is equivalent to murder. I cannot accept it. Fine, they can say we eat sheeps, cows and pigs, so why can't they eat whales? But honestly speaking, if you ask most Japanese today, they don't even bother about whale meat anymore. Let's help these whales survive and thrive in their natural wild habitat. No more killings please.