Feb 01 (BBC) - A video showing the final, brutal 20 minutes of a minke whale's life at the hands of Japanese fishermen sent a ripple of shock through international media.
But activists says the footage of the whale being slowly drowned, after becoming trapped in their nets, has merely highlighted an entirely legal loophole which is used to kill dozens of whales each year.
"This is neither an exceptional nor unexpected occurrence," Mark Simmonds, senior marine scientist at Humane Society International (HSI), said in a release after the whale's death.
"But what is exceptional is that this whole process was witnessed and filmed for the world to see."
Indeed, the young mammal's death once again has exposed the gaping chasm between Japan and the wider world when it comes to whale hunting: activists see a cruel and avoidable death, but the fishermen see a gift from the sea.
But for those who support whale hunting, it goes further than simply food on the plate: it is a source of national pride.
Yet for more than 30 years, fishermen were not allowed to hunt whales off the coast of Japan. The country had signed up to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) following a decades of overfishing which had pushed whale populations to the brink of extinction.
In July 2019, the whaling boats set off once more, despite demand for the meat having dropped. Supporters spoke to the BBC at the time of their relief that "the culture and way of life will be passed on to the next generation".
This time, there were strict quotas in place, allowing for responsible hunting. The first year, the quota allowed for some 52 minke, which are not endangered, as well as 150 Bryde's and 25 sei whales, to be caught over the course of the season - a total of 227. In 2020 and 2021, that total rose to 383.
The numbers are split between the official whalers, the government and a third category, known as "by-catch". This year, 37 whales can be butchered and sold by fisherman under this heading.
The minke whose death was caught on camera was one of the 37 considered "by-catch" - a whale which no one set out to catch, but which just happened to swim into the wrong place, at the wrong time.
