It hasn’t been a great day for whales. Japan opened their international whaling conference to call for a resumption of commercial whaling. Many people remember Star Trek IV as the one where the crew of the Enterprise shows up in San Francisco circa 1986, and Spock kills a guy with a mohawk for comedic effect. But it’s also the one where they save the humpback whale population from extinction. Ironically, 1986 was a pretty good year for whales: that’s the year the global moratorium on whaling went into effect.

In the ensuing years, whale populations have somewhat rebounded. But Norway and Japan, the biggest anti-anti-whaling nations, have gradually built up their kill quotas – Norway under a legal objection to the ruling and Japan for “scientific” purposes. I use quotes with “scientific” because Japan has ended up selling the whales they scientifically kill as food, even though demand is sometimes so low that most of it must be frozen and stored (under a program known as “Freeze Willy.”)

Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy has rejected sonar restrictions to protect marine mammals, saying that the California Coastal Commission’s rules cannot apply beyond three miles from the coastline.

"The Navy does not take lightly our responsibility to the environment and marine life," said Vice Adm. Barry Costello, commander of the U.S. 3rd Fleet in San Diego. "And we can be responsible environmental stewards while our sonar operators receive realistic training and experience at sea they need."

He added, “So, the whales will be a little deaf! At least we’re not eating the bitches like those Japs are!… What? This mic is still on? Ohhh…”

Navy Rejects Sonar Restrictions for Whales (AP)

Japan Opens Whaling Conference (Boston Globe)