The body of a dead whale was found in Tokyo Bay on Tuesday morning. Officials from a whale research institute said it was a 17-meter-long male fin whale, NTV reported.
The institute said the whale had been dead for several days. Officials were unable to say how the whale's carcass got into Tokyo Bay.
© Japan Today
41 Comments
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Lunchbox
Gojira?
some14some
free sample for whale research :(
Mr Sushi
@some14some.... i knew somebody would make a dumb comment like that as soon as i saw the headline
spudman
What's dumb about that? The ICR could take tissue sample and find out the cause of death. Maybe there is something toxic in Tokyo bay, or maybe the government would prefer not to release such information.
gaijinTechie
@Spudman: C'mon, Japanese only do whale research at a dinner table.
buggerlugs
@mr sushi. It would be much better for scientific research if they knew why this whale was found dead in Tokyo bay. Unlike their perfectly healthy and free counterparts being slaughtered now in the Antarctic, which die from a harpoon, this one may have chosen to beach itself in the bay which begs a reason.
The truth is often spoken in jest.
codomo
Here sea shepard, come and give him a funeral.
donkusai
The comments above raise an interesting question. Just how much whale research does Japan do around its own territorial waters? Cost-wise, it would be far more efficient to research whales locally, or is Japan's whaling research really only focused on restarting commercial whaling, hence all that expense to travel to the other end of the world. It would be an interesting stat to know as it really would reveal how genuine Japan is in regard to this research.
MaboDofuIsSpicy
I think SS towed it in in the middle of the night.
ratpack
C'mon guys everyone knows the whale tried to make a statement (because of its counterparts being slaughtered now in the Antarctic) by beaching itself in Tokyo Bay. (hehehe)
ihope2eatwhales
My guess is it was mowed down by a container ship etc. This happens regularly around the world.
ihope2eatwhales
donkusai, whale research has been undertaken in both the north pacific and southern ocean for many years. Gathering suitable data to help facilitate the commercial whaling resumption is an important objective in both cases, of course. This case is likely ship strike. Ship strike is the greatest threat to whale populations in the world, and why some species like the Northern Right Whale off the coast of the USA is endangered. Unfortunately eco-terrorist groups distract well-meaning people from this conservation issue with their unnecessary focus on conservative whaling activities.
ka_chan
Whale killing for reseach is BS. What other animal species are studied by slaughtering them? As for the one in Tokyo bay... how about all that radiation released into the ocean by Fukushima. Ship strikes are less a problem than the noisey ships themselves especially the hugh tankers.
Yubaru
donkusai they don't do research around the main islands of Japan because the water temperatures are too warm for whales to grow the extra layers of fat needed to make the sushi taste all that much better.
UncleBudah
for all those whale meat lovers out there ,,,,"lunch is served"
Elbuda Mexicano
Darren maybe on to something, sometimes they beach themselves, mass suicides etc..before a big earthquake.
Disillusioned
You didn't finish the statement! Their research showed there are not sufficient numbers of whales left in the northern pacific to hunt whales commercially, hence their trips down south.
My guess would be the whale was hit by a ship. Fin whales are the slowest of the whales and are somewhat 'donkusai'. :D
cactusJack
Coming to a supermarket near you.
willynilly
manna
gogogo
Where in Tokyo Bay?
Joseph Itakura
It should be eaten in the name of science!!
willynilly
Easy delivery distance to Tsukiji fish market.
ExportExpert
Fell off the side of a whaling ship returning from the scientific research perhaps, or simple hit by a ship, yeah a whaling ship.
Dennis Bauer
@some14some not fresh enough! for scientific research off course
Nicky Washida
suicide protest?
SquidBert
Nicky, my thought's exactly. This will later be remembered as the spark that started the Cetacean spring.
lostrune2
Fresh giant sushi!!!
nath
The Whales are protesting now.
kwatt
Its body has many small injuries like cuts. Boat or ship must have run over it. It happens sometimes.
SwissToni
ihope2eatwhales, Right Whales were hunted to near extinction, it isnt ship strike that reduced their population to its parlous state.
smithinjapan
They won't use this one for research because it wouldn't be fresh on the plate.
WilliB
This would be something for researchers. Any bets that none of them turns up?
oginome
Nobody eats whales that are beached. They gather anaerobic bacteria and cause illness when eaten.
Jannetto
Swam pre-death or washed in on the tide post-mortem would be reasonable guesses. So are they just leaving it there to rot? In most countries, researchers would be all over it, great opportunity. But I guess they're all busy in the southern oceans.
As for the quake warning theory- NZ gets tons of cetacean strandings, far more than they ever get quakes, and New England gets a fair few and they're not really in a quake zone at all.
ExportExpert
Although it is not clear how the whale entered Tokyo Port, the Tokyo Coast Guard Office believes its tail or other body parts may have somehow gotten trapped in the propeller of a large freighter, which carried it there.
Nessie
Wasn't me.
ihope2eatwhales
If ship strike of northern right whales is eliminated, I believe the northern right whale can eventually recover.
nicknack
The high seas can be a danger place. And if the behaviuor of a vessl is causing distress to another vessel, they should be delt with, end of story. They have no right to cause dmage or place other vessls in danger etc. NONE!