i found a link that explains more. i found out that the Japanese hunt for whales on INTERNATIONAL waters as well.
http://seashepherd.org/taiji/
here are some interesting excerps
"Japan is a member of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). In 1986, the IWC's moratorium on the killing of whales went into effect. Under the terms of the IWC, Japan is permitted to kill a limited number of whales under the "scientific research" exception. This "scientific research" exception is, in reality, simply a loophole which Japan exploits in order to kill whales for commercial consumption, but Japan is not permitted to kill any other whales protected by the IWC.
Observers have seen the fishermen at Taiji slaughtering entire pods of small pilot whales. That is a wholesale violation of the provisions of the International Whaling Commission and is plainly illegal. It is simply ignored by the Japanese government.
"
"Dolphin meat is sold in stores through out Japan. Some of it is labeled correctly as dolphin meat, and some is mislabeled as whale meat. What is never included on the label are the levels of mercury, methyl mercury, cadmium, DDT and PCBs. One or more of these contaminants pollute almost all of the dolphin meat for sale in Japan. That it is sold for public consumption at all is a disgrace; that it is sold without the Japanese government warning its citizens that eating dolphin meat is hazardous to their health is irresponsible and negligent. "
This meat is also widely distributed and consumed in Japanese markets found in the UNITED STATES. here is where we can at least play a small part, don't buy this meat at any cost, and explain to our Japanese friends that the meat is illegally collected and poisoned with heavy metals.
