Yahoo! Profits from Illegal Slaughter of Whales

by Taryn Kiekow, Staff Attorney, Marine Mammal Protection Project, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council)

Do you care about whales? Do you ever use the internet giant Yahoo!? Then you should know that Yahoo! Japan is selling whale and dolphin products on its website, including meat from endangered species.

Although Yahoo! has banned the sale of whale products on all its other sites, its Japanese subsidiary – Yahoo! Japan – continues to sell whale products. That means Yahoo! – through its 34% interest in Yahoo! Japan – profits from the illegal slaughter of whales.

According to a report just issued by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), in March 2012, Yahoo! Japan offered 249 whale products for sale – including sashimi, bacon and canned whale meat.

The International Whaling Commission has banned commercial whaling since 1986. Yet Japan continues to kill whales under the guise of “scientific research” – even within the boundaries of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary established by the IWC in 1994 to protect whales.

Each year, Japan issues itself “scientific research” quotas to kill some 1,000 minke, fin, sperm, Bryde’s and sei whales in the Antarctic and North Pacific oceans. Many of these whales were hunted nearly to extinction and are only now rebounding from centuries of overhunting.

By selling whale products, Yahoo! Japan is helping Japan’s efforts to evade international law and kill whales for commercial gain.

Earlier this year, Amazon’s Japanese website was found to be selling whale products. In response to public outrage, Amazon swiftly announced a ban on all such sales.

Now is the time for Yahoo! to follow Amazon’s lead. Join NRDC, EIA and the Humane Society in urging Yahoo! Japan to stop the sale of all whale products.

Click here and tell Yahoo! to use its influence over Yahoo! Japan to permanently ban the sale of all whale products on Yahoo! Japan’s website.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

mel c.

11:32AM PDT on Oct 26, 2012

greed knows no end

October 26
send a green star

Ari G.

11:38AM PDT on Jul 9, 2012

United States has one of the largest whaling fleets in the world.
Your mission - to track down anyone buying fish from Alaska fisherman.

July 9
send a green star

Hillary K.

5:56PM PDT on Jun 21, 2012

Vile!

June 21
send a green star

Sarah W.

8:36PM PDT on Jun 20, 2012

Yaboo!

June 20
send a green star

Carrie-Anne B.

10:59AM PDT on Jun 20, 2012

signed, thanks for sharing :)

Arrie H.

12:19AM PDT on Jun 19, 2012

I had no idea. Looking into this more carefully. If totally accurate, I will stop using Yahoo and I use it very little at present. If true, I'm disgusted and will write letters to hopefully encourage Yahoo to stop the practise. Japan or no Japan.

June 19
send a green star

Lynne B.

3:12PM PDT on Jun 18, 2012

Message sent.

June 18
send a green star

Melania P.

9:58AM PDT on Jun 18, 2012

Signed and shared! Shame on you Yahoo! Just disgusting.

Katherine W.

8:47AM PDT on Jun 18, 2012

Please make sure you sign and forward this petition. What Yahoo is doing is disgusting and vile. They MUST be stopped. I've seen what an impact Care 2 members can make....let's do it again and let Yahoo know that we will not allow this to continue. Shame on Yahoo.

Alex H.

7:36AM PDT on Jun 18, 2012

What a disgrace! Where are the ethics? In Southern Australia,an idiot who disregarded the law and got too close to a humpback whale in his boat,has been fined $15000! Yet the Australian government sits on its hands while the Japanese kill whales in Australia's whale sanctuary,leaving the dirty work to the Sea Shepherd to sort out! Go figure!!!There has been so much coverup of Jap atrocities during WW2 but slowly stories filter out.In 1942,400 Australian naval personnel were beheaded with Samurai swords in a massacre of prisoners of war.How can anyone forgive that kind of brutality,and why should we be expected to?