The Japanese insistence on hunting whales for "science" has led to the joke that what they're really investigating is how many Japanese people like to eat whale. Well, now we know the answer: hardly any of them:
Japan's failing appetite for whale meat left three-quarters of meat from whales caught in the north-west Pacific last summer unsold, according to a report.Which, if correct, is another feather in Sea Shepherd's cap.Junko Sakuma, a freelance journalist, said the body responsible for selling meat from Japan's controversial "scientific" whaling programme had failed to sell 908 tonnes of the 1,211-tonne catch, despite holding 13 public auctions since last October.
[...]
The Institute of Cetacean Research blamed low demand on the complicated auction procedure and reluctance among food suppliers to attract criticism from anti-whaling groups such as Sea Shepherd.
Meanwhile, you really have to ask why the Japanese bother.