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Mercury is a heavy metal listed by WHO as one of the top 10 most dangerous chemicals to public health. Continued exposure to the neurotoxin could damage cognition and risks affecting the brains and nervous systems of fetuses.
The metal travels up the food chain, in the form of methyl-mercury, and bioaccumulates in predators as they continually ingest small amounts of mercury in krill, plankton and fish, which is why long-lived animals such as whales and dolphins can build up dangerous levels of the toxin in their muscles and fat.
A Risso’s dolphin captured in this season’s controversial Taiji dolphin hunt.Credit: Kunito
The complaint comes during a marketing push by the Japanese whaling industry that’s targeting tourists rushing back to the country that locked its borders until October 2022.
Whaling company Kyodo Senpaku recently opened seven vending machines selling whale bacon, steak and canned meat in Tokyo. The company has plans to roll out 100 more machines across Japan.
The company’s president, Hideki Tokoro, told Reuters they were opening the vending machines because major supermarkets were “afraid of being harassed by anti-whaling groups” if they stocked whale meat.
In March, Tokoro hosted an influencer event in Osaka, where journalists and travel bloggers were served meals of grilled, fried and raw sliced whale meat in an effort to pitch eating the controversial meat as a tourist experience.
A spokesperson for Kyodo Senpaku with one of the company’s new whale meat vending machines.Credit: Kwiyeon Ha
Japan resumed its commercial whaling program in 2019 after pulling out of the International Whaling Commission, which banned commercial whaling in 1986.
The whaling industry, the Taiji fishermen and the Japanese government argue the hunting of dolphins and whales is part of Japanese culture. Tait said the AFD would continue their campaign to hurt the industry’s economic prospects.
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“We see the hunting as a global issue in terms of conservation due to the unique biological characteristics of dolphins,” Tait said.
“While we understand that it can be considered a cultural tradition, this is also something that affects global dolphin populations. So we think we have a role to play as an Australian organisation.”
Joreimaru Whale Specialty Store and Yahoo! Japan were contacted for comment.
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