Real Facts about Whale Hunting reported in Sam Vincent’s ‘Blood and Guts’

Australian journalist Sam Vincent's new book 'Blood and Guts' encapsulates whale hunting activity in the region. Australia has been fighting with Japan for decades to force Japan to end its whaling practice in the name of research. The book has a special focus on Sea Shepherd, the group of eco-warriors known worldwide for their aggression against Japanese whalers.

Vincent, Paul Watson, is the head of the organization and he, according to Vincent, is a 'megalomaniac misanthrope'. He interviewed many academics to find content for his book along with members of the IWC. He did not like Watson, who is currently subject to an international arrest warrant.

He argued that arguments between Japan and Australia actually surround identity, self-determination, and a fair degree of rewriting or conveniently ignoring history. In the book, Vincent has said that Japan's whale hunting is not meant for science, but it is neither intended for whale meat in Japan, where younger generation by and large would rather eat other things, unless it is a cultural festival. Whaling is also not a medium of any solid business for Japan and it instead costs Japanese government millions of dollars annually.

He pointed out that Australia has never made any effort to drag Iceland or Norway to the IWS or the international court of justice for their involvement in whaling practices. The simple reason for that is they look similar to people in Australia. Whaling maintains and Indigenous tradition. Japan's whaling tradition is far more recent, especially in the Antarctic territory. But, their whaling tradition has been developed by the country's leaders as core to the national identity.

Malcolm Fraser, who banned whaling while being the Prime Minister, told Vincent during an interview that Australians are so much in love with whales that they care more about whales than refugees or asylum seekers, and this is not something Australians would like to boast of.