Do The Whales Die Immediately;
No. According to uncut video taken in 2009 by Animal Planet for use in their Whale Wars show, it's been proven that it takes on average 45 minutes for a whale to die. The process is inhumane. The Japanese are using harpoons with tips that explode upon impact, and even a clear shot to the head doesn't result in instant death. The whales often struggle violently while pouring blood. IE:
you can clearly see a juvenile Minke whale blowing blood from it's blow hole and struggling on the end of the harpoon. The cause of death is exanguination while conscious. IE: the animal dies due to bleeding out not due to a quick kill. In hunting and commercial cattle processing the animal is killed by a captive bolt to the head which renders them brain dead before immediately being hung up and bled dry. Other methods also include the animal being rendered completely unconscious, again, before being cut and bled dry and thus do not feel pain or shock or fear associated with the slaughter process; http://en.wikipedia....nimal_slaughter
Once the whale is towed up close enough to the ship, they are commonly repeatedly shot with high powered rifles.
Now in the case of slaughter that is conducted by "drive fisheries" such as the annual cull of Pilot Whales in the Faroe Islands or dolphins in Japan, the animals are driven into very shallow water where they either strand or cannot elude molestation and are speared with either gaffing hooks or hand held harpoons and allowed to bleed to death. In many cases the weakened animals are pulled to shore and are cut open to have their spines severed while still alive and struggling;
(please fast forward to around 3:26 to avoid photographs.
To the question of sustainability;
Year after year great numbers of animals are constantly taken from the same areas. The Japanese repeatedly set quotas of over 900 animals, mainly Minke whales which they claim are of a plentiful population according to their unsubstantiated reports during their "scientific research" findings since 1987. According to the Japanese there's nearly 700,000 Minkes. According to other sources anywhere between 100 - 300,000. The IWC stated in 2010 that there's no answer and that they will be looking into a true number of these whales. (http://www.iwcoffice...on/estimate.htm) IE: A recent full census has never been conducted by an outside source in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary where ICR's JARPA and JARPA II programs claim to be running since 1987. Science knows that all species of cetacea (whales, dolphins) have extremely low reproductive rates producing a calf every three to five years with a suckling period of five months to three years. In the instance of Killer Whales. These animals, we know, have a sexual maturity rate very similar to humans. They tend to reach that maturity around 8 to 15 years of age depending on species. IE: Humpback - http://en.wikipedia....le#Reproduction - Minke: http://en.wikipedia....le#Reproduction
Japan continues to take Fin, Minke, and even proposed a catch of 50 Humpbacks which was shot down quickly due to protest written to the IWC.
Whale slaughter in the Faroe Islands and small cetacean slaughter in Japan often wipe out entire pods (family groups) of dolphins and whales including pregnant females and juveniles without bias. See Faroe Video posted above.
RESEARCH?
The year after the IWC said "no more whaling. period." Japan issued itself a permit for "research" whaling and took a quota of 825 minke whales and 50 sperm whales every year for ten years. Despite the fact that the IWC scientific committee rejected its research proposals, Japan continued whaling. (see Ellis, Richard (1999). Men and Whales. The Lyons Press. pp. 408–409. ISBN 9781558216969.)
The IWC adopted a resolution in 1987 recommending Japan not proceed until disagreements over its research proposals were resolved. A second resolution was also adopted on February 14, 1988 recommending Japan not proceed. On February 9, 1988 Japanese whalers killed the first minke whale in Antarctic waters under the new self issued research whaling permit. U.S. President Ronald Regan responded by cutting off Japanese fishing privileges in U.S. waters on April 6, 1988 under the Packwood-Magnuson Amendment (letter; http://www.reagan.ut...988/040688e.htm) (Ellis, Richard (1999). Men and Whales. The Lyons Press. pp. 490–491. ISBN 9781558216969.)
Japan has since conducted research whaling programs in the North Pacific (JARPN 1994–1999, JARPN II 2000–Present) and in Antarctica (JARPA 1988–2005, JARPA II 2005–Present). The IWC has asked its members that conduct research whaling programs to demonstrate that the research provides critical information, that the research is needed for whale management purposes, and that non-lethal research techniques are not able to provide the same information. The IWC has issued at least 19 resolutions criticizing Japan for failing to meet these conditions and asking it to stop issuing permits. (http://www.lclark.ed...r_work/whaling/) " The IWC has created rules, in a non-binding resolution, relating to the conduct of scientific research whaling. The resolution asks any IWC member that conducts a research whaling program to demonstrate that the research will provide critical research needs, that the research is needed for management purposes, and that non-lethal research techniques cannot provide the same information. The IWC has issued at least 19 resolutions since 1987, the year Japan began scientific research whaling, condemning Japan for failing to meet these conditions and asking it to stop issuing permits.
QUOTE: "Because Japan refuses to meet the conditions imposed by the IWC for scientific research whaling, and on behalf of more than 100 groups from around the world, IELP prepared a petition pursuant to the Pelly Amendment of the U.S. Fishermen's Protective Act, 22 U.S.C. §1978, asking the U.S. Department of Commerce to certify Japan as diminishing the effectiveness of the IWC and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). On the day that IELP intended to submit the petition, however, the Department of Commerce certified Japan on its own. That certification gave the President the authority to impose trade sanctions against Japan."
Conservationists are eagerly awaiting the results of the 2011 IWC meeting after the 2010/2011 Japanese Whaling season ended with only 5% of their quota being taken due to activist interference and the compounding evidence that there's nothing "scientific" about what's being done in the Southern Ocean when compared to work done studying live populations of whales such as the Southern Resident Killer Whale population as outlined by Dr. Kenneth Balcomb and the Center for Whale Research in Washington State ( http://www.whaleresearch.com ) that has studied feeding habits, environmental impacts, acoustics, reproduction, and individual recognition without conducting lethal research.
This is all compounded with the fact that Japan is hunting in an internationally recognized "whale sanctuary" that was established to give these animals a rest zone for reproductive, feeding, and to reduce catch pressures on the animals living within it. This particular one was established in 1938 http://www.iwcoffice...htm#sanctuaries. The Faroe Islands, and subsequentrly their parent nation of Denmark, are in direct violation of the European Union's ruling on whaling and is in a direct violation of the Berne Convention. The Faeroe Islands are a territory of Denmark, the Faeroese people are Danish citizens, and therefore the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Denmark is in violation of the Berne Convention, of which Denmark is a signatory.
All of Japan's whale meat is processed and boxed on board the Japanese "mother ship" the Nisshin Maru and arrives frozen for delivery to restaurants and super markets. The ship is marked "Research", as are the other the harpoon and spotter ships, but is registered for the purpose of fishing and is owned by Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha which is an off shoot of Nippon Suisan/Nissui which are a marine products company (IE: fish meat etc). (http://en.wikipedia....n_Suisan_Kaisha - http://www.nissui.co...lish/index.html ) which sure just go to show you just how "scientific" this is. Perhaps the science of how many recipes can be made? How much money can be made? The animals are processed and rendered aboard after being harpooned and killed by harpooning vessels. Japan issued itself a law stating that every part of the animal must be used... A fact that was over turned by the IWC after video of whale entrails being thrown over board was submitted by Animal Planet and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
