Minke Whale Trapped in Fishing Nets for 2 Weeks Calls Out Rescue

Animal rights activists are raising their concerns as a minke whale was found trapped in a fishing net for more than two weeks!

Minke Whale trapped for two weeks

Near the coast of Taiji, a Japanese town known for its annual dolphin cull, a minke whale said to have reached at least four to five meters was found under the bindings of a large commercial sized fishing net. Local media sources reported that many attempts were made to rescue the animal. Still, its size, along with the strong tidal currents, is what makes attempts to set it free particularly difficult.

Despite the attempts, Japanese animal rights activists raise their concern towards the animal. They claim that the minke whale should be set free on the soonest possible opportunity because they fear that the local fisherfolks might slaughter the animal once the media attention dissipates.

Japanese animal activist Ren Yabuki, campaign director of the Life Investigation Agency, who has been filming the whale using his drone every day since it was trapped on Christmas eve, claimed that the local fishing authority only made one actual attempt to release the animal. He claimed that it might imply that the locals were not worried whether or not the minke whale would be released.

"It is difficult to guide the whale out of the nets, and they don't want to remove the nets as that would disrupt fishing and allow a large number of fish to escape, so my feeling is that they are going to kill it," said Yabuki.

He claimed that the fisherfolks would be able to sell the mink whale's meat after taking a DNA sample out of it.

The whale has been showing signs of distress, and if the locals did not kill it first, it would eventually die by itself due to extreme hunger. Yabuki claimed that allowing the whale to starve to death would be the worst possible end to its life. That's if local divers have not yet speared it first.

Some considered Yabuki's allegation that the locals will go out of their way to slaughter the trapped animal as an overreaction. However, this is not the case. Chances are, the locals would actually do it because the town has been known to hold an annual dolphin hunt.

Related article: China Implements 10-Year Fishing Ban to Save the Yangtze Finless Porpoise 

Taiji Dolphin Drive Hunt

The annual dolphin drive hunt is an event in Taiji where a select group of divers would dive into the ocean and drive the dolphins and other cetaceans (including the minke whale) to a small bay area where they are either captured for trade or killed for their meats. Taiji is the only town in Japan where large scale drive hunting is still practiced.

This is completely legal in Japan under a government implemented quota. The Japanese government allows the town to hunt over 2,000 cetaceans to be slaughtered. Reports have stated that approximately 22,000 cetaceans are killed by the dive hunting event every year.

Despite criticisms from various animal rights groups, residents actively participate in this event as it provides income for the locals.

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