Toxins found in whales bode ill for humans: report

The 93-foot Odyssey, a sail-and-motor ketch, set out in March 2000 from San Diego to document the oceans’ health, collecting pencil-eraser-sized samples using a dart gun that barely made the whales flinch.

Lesson to Japan : Research CAN be done humanely.

Lesson to Japan: Eating whale might not be a very good idea.

What is the chemical structure of the mercury? Even though there is the presence of mercury, not all mercury class elements are toxic to humans at the same levels. Need more information. Also would like to know how much a person can eat before they are expected to experience health problems from mercury.

djuice - The word of actual scientists not good enough? Need more information? My, my! Get out of that armchair and get yourself to MIT, quick!

And what are the personal views on whaling of biologist Roger Payne, founder and president of Ocean Alliance, the research and conservation group that produced the report?

Isn't the Ocean Alliance one of the animal-rights, anti-whaling groups who have sworn to say and do anything to stop ALL whaling? Even the Indigenous kind?

I did notice that the Ocean Alliance's report caused the U.S. Whaling Commissioner Monica Medina to urged the IWC membership to conduct further RESEARCH.

One one hand Roger Payne and biased anti-whaling research are synonymous. One the other hand, IF what he claims is true, for certain species of whales, ie; the toothed whales, Whaling isn't goinbg to be the cause of their extinction. Furthermore, the implications go far beyonf eating whalemeat it covers almost all seafood. This information without doubt calls for more Research Whaling. Maybe it's a gtood thing the IWC propsal didn't pass?

arrestpaul -

Ocean Alliance's report caused the U.S. Whaling Commissioner Monica Medina to urged the IWC membership to conduct further RESEARCH.

Ossan -

This information without doubt calls for more Research Whaling.

Ocean Alliance - (http://www.oceanalliance.org/research.html)Traditional techniques for assessing populations of whales have relied on whale carcasses provided by the whaling industry. Even though this method continues to be used in some parts of the world, it does not yield much of the information needed for management of stocks, such as critical habitat and social behavior patterns.

Do you two really imagine for a moment that Dr. Payne is suggesting more whales need to be killed? Get real.

Isn't the Ocean Alliance one of the animal-rights, anti-whaling groups

And so their data can't be trusted, right? Not like the totally unbiased data produced by the people who have a financial interest in continuing to kill whales, whose results show, strangely enough, that it's OK and good to --- kill whales. What a coincidence. Who wudda thunk it.

The way the pair of you jump gleefully on the 'more research' thing indicates clearly how unbiased any 'research' results coming from your ilk is likely to be.

This information without doubt calls for more Research Whaling.

Yes, exactly! Whaling that is solely based on scientific purpose-- not a cover-up for commercial whaling. And Payne's study primarily addresses the concerns with human actions that may cause environmental hazards on marine ecology rather than anti-whaling politics. It's this type of research that is needed to educate the people who are involving in the discussion of whaling and natural wild-life preservation.

“I don’t see any future for whale species except extinction,” Payne said

if they're going extinct anyway, no harm is whaling a few before.

fds,

I see your fine reasoning, just make them extinct faster. Why dont you just venture into the forest around Fuji now since you will die at some point anyway.

cleo - Do you two really imagine for a moment that Dr. Payne is suggesting more whales need to be killed? Get real.

The article didn't say that Payne suggested more whales needed to be killed.

It did say that Payne's scientific research resulted in the "U.S. Whaling Commissioner Monica Medina inform(ing) the 88 member nations of the whaling commission of the report and urged the commission to conduct further RESEARCH.

Providing further proof that the IWC membership is conducting scientific research, contrary to what the anti-whaling zealots have been spinning.

Not like the totally unbiased data produced by the people who have a financial interest in continuing to kill whales, whose results show, strangely enough, that it's OK and good to --- kill whales.

More research from multiple different sources would be helpful in assessing the problem. Using the sample and tracking darts would be instrumental to locating the more highly contaminated areas or the ocean where the whales go to feed. Limited dissections would also provide critical information as to the extent of the toxin consumption. I have no particular interest in Japan's whaling practices but a threat to general human interests should always be studied using whatever means at our disposal. Anyway it would be more productive to look for similar contamination in other marine species by taking blood, organ, and tissue samples and testing for heavy metal poisoning.

The report raises some questions but one study does not a crisis make. Needs more investigation.

The word of actual scientists not good enough?

No, not really. Those who conducted the initial study belong to an organization with heavy bias in the subject they reported on. If what they reported is accurate a second, third, and fourth studies by other organizations should reach similar conclusions. Sorry to say that white coats haven’t impressed me for a long time.

Yeah, we have ocean dead zones, fish and other marine life either dying off or becoming toxic due to the amount of chemicals humankind keeps dumping into the water. I'm not suprised at all.

Wait until those fateful days when you not only can't drink tap water, but the water filters on your sinks are no longer useful because the water is poisonous.

the american scientists went nut?

japanese scientists(or fishermen, i don't know!) has been studing and research the whale(taste) extensively using all tools(loopholes) available for decades after the commercial band, they give out no toxic warning to the japanese public(indirectly fund their hunt and fill up their pockets). how come?

i don't believe the american!!! get them out of Okinawa first!

Ossan: " Furthermore, the implications go far beyonf eating whalemeat it covers almost all seafood. This information without doubt calls for more Research Whaling."

Perhaps so, but nowhere does it suggest the research need be LETHAL, does it? And let's say some 'unbiased' Japanese... ahem... 'research' were carried out... you know... as is tradition and all... and they found the man is correct and that the toxicity was some 16 per cent above acceptable levels, would they therefore not sell and/or serve it up on dinner plates? hahaha... you really need to think before you take the bait, so to speak.

wouldn't the most basic "research" have borne out the same conclusion, time after time, hunt after hunt, long before it became a part of children's lunches in schools? Now that this is known and known and again known, can the parents not just sue the Japanese Government for tainted food?

So Japan tests ever cow for BSE such that any possibility never enters the food chain, yet NOT seafood for obvious (higher levels of) contaminants below human standards of consumption? Is schizophrenia a symptom?

With Japanese eating a lot of seafood, are there no standards for such foods? I'm sure other purveyors of seafood would also love to sell Japanese sub-human-standard foods.

Why not just open the gates? Mercury and lead for all? Why let a few studies on the effects on childhood mental development get you down?

What a disaster.

A report released Thursday noted high levels of cadmium, aluminum, chromium, lead, silver, mercury and titanium in tissue samples taken by dart gun from nearly 1,000 whales over five years.

dart-gun! Do the Japanese have dart guns? Or would that be considered "advanced" research because it doesn't involved harvest and refrigerator ships?

The 93-foot Odyssey, a sail-and-motor ketch, set out in March 2000 from San Diego to document the oceans’ health, collecting pencil-eraser-sized samples using a dart gun that barely made the whales flinch.

notice how the concern for the whale occurred with the research itself. Such the dart guns were non lethal and yet instructive enough to make the Japanese research look like the scam and lie that is has always been.

This is real research. And it blows Japan out of the water. There comes a time when you can't buy off the reality and you have to conform to that reality.

For some odd reason, Japan time after time, just flat out refuses to anything above board

“U.S. Whaling Commissioner Monica Medina informed the 88 member nations of the whaling commission of the report and urged the commission to conduct further research.”

Medina may want to protect the whales and bring an end to the hunting of whales, but she at least had the good sense not to take sides in the research issue and called for more research. The only research we have seen is being done by two groups that each have their own agendas and as such must both be read with care and allowance made for their secondary motives. That isn’t to say that either cannot be trusted or that either is lying. That is to say we have very good reasons for wanting and needing independent research.

Toxins found in whales bode ill for humans: report

To quote Bart Simpson: "The ironing is delicious."

Taka

& to think they managed to come up with more information than Japanese 'research', & all without killing 1 whale! Guess it does just prove even further that Japans claims of 'research' are nothing more than another blatent lie from the very much corrupt ICR.

If the research behind these claims is valid, then people should stop eating cetaceans right now, and governments should immediately ban the sale, trafficking and all consumption of such food products. If the research is dubious, it is vital that all the concerned countries drop their petty politicking and do proper, serious further research on the presence of trace elements in all fish and cetaceans. Or we could just go on making trivial little political points while we commit slow suicide by poison.

Some people say that humans cant ruin the earth, but I think we are doing a great job.

The sampling method used here can only measure toxins in the skin/blubber area.

It don't give data about actual levels in meat and intgernal organs. Toxins listed above are fat-soluble and thus will be found in the blubber.

Important data and research, but I can't think of a non-lethal way to research the levels below the blubber layer as this is usually 30~40cm thick.

You could make a fairly tight argument to say that it is the single greatest health threat that has ever faced the human species

Ok, ok, not gonna eat any whales.

These results are not new, because they have been previously reported by Japanese scientists. And the Japanese have reported data about the concentrations not only in the blubber, but as well those in the meat and organs. I mean, have they?

cleo at 10:15 AM JST - 25th June Ossan - This information without doubt calls for more Research Whaling.

Ocean Alliance - (http://www.oceanalliance.org/research.html)Traditional >techniques for assessing populations of whales have relied on whale >carcasses provided by the whaling industry. Even though this method >continues to be used in some parts of the world, it does not yield much >of the information needed for management of stocks, such as critical >habitat and social behavior patterns.

Research, superficial or thorough, of toxins contained in the body of a whale can not be conducted by studying theirsocial behavior patterns.

Do you two really imagine for a moment that Dr. Payne is suggesting more >whales need to be killed? Get real.

No I think it's rather crystal clear that we are both taking note of:

"U.S. Whaling Commissioner Monica Medina informed the 88 member nations of the whaling commission of the report and urged the commission to conduct further research."

Isn't the Ocean Alliance one of the animal-rights, anti-whaling groups And so their data can't be trusted,

Yes that's correct. Unless of course the data is submitted to the IWC scientific committee which will undoubtedly conduct research to verify said report and report their conclusions. Unless of course you consider any scientific data from the IWC to be "biased" towards the whalers.

smithinjapan at 03:36 PM JST - 25th June Ossan: " Furthermore, the implications go far beyonf eating whalemeat it >covers almost all seafood. This information without doubt calls for more >Research Whaling." Perhaps so, but nowhere does it suggest the research need be LETHAL, >does it?

Go ahead and try researching toxin levels by studying whales social behavior. News for you, to do any kind of thorough comprehensive research into this report whales are going to HAVE to be killed and autopsies performed. Seriously, get a clue.

developmental diseases in any stable population are more obvious when compared to social behavioural norms. So with lead contamination in humans for example, they noted in the past that children didn't learn as quickly and developed severe mental problems, hence banned lead in toys. Studying whales would be easier as they have particular feeding patterns.

Can I mail you a brown shirt or do you get them for free?

to do any kind of thorough comprehensive research into this report whales are going to HAVE to be killed and autopsies performed. Seriously, get a clue.

read the story again. It shows that isn't the case. Even the test results show this. Death is unnecessary for research.

why is the killing of whales so important to you when it's obvious not only can clear results be found without their deaths, but more accurately too as you don't then need refrigerator and harvest ships, just regular ships of which there are far more. Thus the research can occur worldwide.

Why the blood lust?

i don't believe the american!!! get them out of Okinawa first!

LOL. Funny. Someone right here is in the hallucination of a magic mushroom labeled "American" referred to military servicemen in Okinawa.

KeikoTokyo >& to think they managed to come up with more information than Japanese 'research', & all without killing 1 whale! Guess it does just prove even further that Japans claims of 'research' are nothing more than another blatent lie from the very much corrupt ICR.

You're totally way out in the left field! This has nothing to do with Japan's research whaling. It doesn't disprove Japan's claim that they conduct commercial whaling under the disguise of scientific research purpose.

Zenny11 >Important data and research, but I can't think of a non-lethal way to research the levels below the blubber layer as this is usually 30~40cm thick.

Me neither. Although non-lethal approach is desirable, it's quite difficult for researchers and scientists to capture the ginormous mammals without harming them.

disprove/prove, Japan's/opponents', ginormous/humungous