Japan has resumed commercial whaling and there has been a predictable response but is this response based on emotion and the idea that whales are somehow more intelligent than other mammals?

Is Mise,

I am inclined to say good luck to them. I cannot see why whaling can't be carried out in the same way commercial fishing is, with checks and balances. I don't really understand what the objections are.

Japan's exit from the International Whaling
Commission (IWC) highlights the need for the
international community to overcome disagreements.
Whaling is only one example of the many urgent
and complex environmental issues that demand a
global response. How well we all work together
will determine more than just the fate of the
world's whales.

Japan has now caught its first whale in its
waters since resuming commercial whaling after
a global ban came into effect.

While whaling has been part of Japanese culture for
hundreds of years, modern demand for whale meat
is extremely low. Whale makes up about 0.1% of
all meat eaten in Japan in a year. Whether Japan's
appetite for whale meat being so low
will reduce its whaling
efforts remains to be seen.

Like all living things, whales occupy a role in the food
chain and contribute to the balance of the marine
eco-system therefore their preservation is important.

Japan by it actions in leaving the world body is not looking good
It ,this time, is at least hunting in its own waters, whales numbers have grown , and needed to
But we are told by other Japanese that country no longer eats whale meat like it once did
If they kill any endangered whales it will be time for me to get upset

Dear Is Mise,

Interesting question so I'm going to act on the assumption it was not loaded even if it probably was.

There are a couple of parts to it.

Firstly is the assumption that whales are more intelligent that other animals. Well the science seems to indicate it is a real possibility;

"Whale and dolphin brains contain specialized brain cells called spindle neurons. These are associated with advanced abilities such as recognising, remembering, reasoning, communicating, perceiving, adapting to change, problem-solving and understanding. So it seems they are deep thinkers! Not only that, but the part of their brain which processes emotions (limbic system) appears to be more complex than our own."
http://us.whales.org/whales-dolphins/how-intelligent-are-whales-and-dolphins/

The second is whether that emotion should have us refrain from killing them for meat.

They aren't reared for that purpose like cows or sheep. They are an animal in the wild. Perhaps a little less understood though being aquatic.

So the best land based animal we can associate them with is probably the elephant. It also has a long gestation and rearing periods and shows remarkable intelligence.

We do not go out and slaughter them for elephant steaks at our fine restaurants. We can understand an African living a largely tribal life killing one to feed his small community just as we can understand an eskimo doing the same. But as advanced societies we do not wholesale hunt and farm elephants for their meat. Ivory is another story of course but not for this discussion.

Japan would have us regard it as an advanced society whose people are not dependent of whale nor elephant meat to survive.

That is why this act by them is so perverse and should be condemned.

Just for a little light relief this is Sasha Baron Cohen taking down food critic Bill Jilla in one of his episodes. It has some relevance though admittedly a little oblique.
http://youtu.be/YEb8yJWI_X4?t=22

don't like the idea of killing whales unless for food however killing the unborn babies is criminal.