Inhabitants of the notorious dolphin slaughtering township of Taiji have been found to have dangerously high levels of mercury in their bodies, thought to be due to the presence of large amounts of whale meat in their diets.
A scientific study of 1,000 residents of the town of Taiji, in Wakayama prefecture, traditionally a major centre of whale meat consumption, found levels of methyl mercury in the hair of inhabitants to be five times that of Japanese in 14 other locations where whale meat is not generally on the menu.
3% of the Wakayama residents surveyed had levels of mercury contamination over the levels WHO considers likely to cause neurological damage. The residents with the highest levels of contamination were the ones who reported recently eating dolphin and whale.
The National Minamata Disease Research Institute highlights the dangers:
“These findings imply whale consumption is tied to high mercury levels. We did not detect any signs of methyl mercury poisoning, but continuous monitoring of residents with high levels of mercury in their bodies is required.”
The findings have particular resonance in Japan – “Minamata disease,” caused by the contamination of seafood by methyl mercury industrial effluent, killed thousands of Japanese in the 20th century, crippled tens of thousands and resulted in almost a hundred million dollars of compensation being paid to victims by the major polluter.
Heavy metal contamination is a major health hazard associated with eating whale meat – the Japanese government itself advises against consumption by pregnant women and children, and some cetacean meat is banned from supermarket shelves due to excessive contamination.
The contamination itself is due to the natural presence of mercury in the food chain – predators who eat many other creatures, such as whales and tuna, accumulate the chemical in their flesh, a phenomenon which also afflicts humans who eat them.
Such findings are particularly disturbing when taken in conjunction with the not infrequent attempts by whaling advocates (essentially fishermen and crazed nationalists) to force whale meat onto school meals, which most public health bodies would consider the very last place it should be served.
Wags suggest whaling proponents might have been eating too much of the meat…
Leaving aside the issue of whether whale populations can sustain responsible commercial whaling (the evidence seems to suggest they can), the major issue facing whaling advocates appears to be what to do with the meat, which most evidence now suggests is barely fit for human consumption.
Karma, bitch.
Let’s feed the meat to our pets to make em go insane and start biting everyone.
All this mercury stuff’s been around for a long time. How come it ever dawned on them that if the fish have mercury in them then there’s a good chance that dolphins and whale also have high levels of mercury in them?
Maybe we should just kill whales to keep the populations in check and give the whalemeat to hungry africans instead
It should be noted that Minamata Disease patients had levels in the 710ppm range. That’s a lot higher than the levels in the Taiji villagers (9 to 10x higher, according to the article), and as always in toxicology, “the dose makes the poison.” To put a person out in general anesthesia, a certain dose of, say, sodium pentathol is required, and does the job very effectively and safely. But if you got ten times that dose, your next operation would be an autopsy.
Besides, people choose to go base jumping, despite the risk. If the Taiji folk want to chow down on whale meat seasoned with mercury, let them go for it.
this isnt about what animals are ok to eat and what arent! its about eating endangered species! thats all it is about! id eat a whale species that isnt endangered! but i wouldnt touch one that is! humans are the top of the food chain! we eat what we want when we want! thats how it goes! this isnt about cute or famous animals! its bout environmental protection and management! and the lieing japanese government trying to play of whaling as science!
Will the whales and dolphin meat run out before the rest of them “chokes” on it? Win-win for you, you whale killer.
Just sell them to China.
That’s nothing, Tony Stark can hold 54% palladium in his blood.
“can hold 54% palladium in his blood” makes no sense, consider rewording.
chuck norris can hold 500% weapons grade uranium in his blood.
hmmm… high levels of mercury? or could it be the philosopher stone!
perhaps they are homunculus!
lets transmute the whole town into a philosopher stone
lol
>”the major issue facing whaling advocates appears to be what to do with the meat, which most evidence now suggests is barely fit for human consumption.”
Looks like China has a new food source–Providing they soak it in sewage first.
Good for them, Serve them right and now the Question is will they became a Shibito( maybe a Japanese name for a Zombie ). Its the antagonist of the PS2 game from Forbidden Siren must be happening now in the town of Taji so beware.
Heavy metals (lead, mercury, arsenic, etc.) accumulate in fatty tissues.
“I’d like an extra-extra-lean whaleburger. Hold the dolphin and tuna garnish, please.”
human suffering is amusing.
Reminds me of this:
http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2010/04/15/sea-shepherd-japan-fanclub-really-does-love-whales/
After such an overdose, I wonder how many of them are in the looney bin right now…
well.. we can filter coal power plant exhausts to where we can eleminate sulphates, and mercury release in the atmosphere.. but it costs.. so we don’t do it, and then the US doesn’t want to build nuclear power plants, Even The Obamaman.. so we’re all screwed for awhile till they invent clean power sources (don’t give me wind, priuses and stuff.. there not that clean, and the materials u use to make them .. like batterys for that prius is more harmful than driving a hummer… so piss on ya.. ) i belever we will get better, but no thanks to politicians and businesses that think of the allmighty dollar (or whatever currency u use…) instead of humanity… Screw Them!
I hope they all die. And you fucking idiots are such idiots. I can’t believe you think high mercury content in whale meat is bullshit. You guys remind of of those God Hates Fags people. You’re all obstinate retards.
Like this will stop me from looking at Dolphin and Whale hentai bestiality…
Please tell me since I’m curious, what exactly is the appeal to whale hentai..? There’s a guy in one of my classes who is really into whale hentai and I don’t get it at all.
..That was a reply to Azure Xuchibara, by the way. It for some reason didn’t post as one..
the temporary solution’s simple, just get more people to eat small amounts of whale meat to keep the industry booming and minimizing health risks.
“Responsible commercial whaling”.
Putting “responsible” and “commercial” into the same sentence is pretty naive.
nobody got the joke?
The mad hatter from alice in wonderland…lol my favorite character in the book
It’s not actually a reference to Alice in Wonderland per se, but rather to the expression “mad as a hatter”, which existed long before Lewis Carroll’s book (and which is the origin of Carroll’s character).
In the past, mercury was used in preparing felt which was then used in making hats (ie. top hats). Those making the hats (“hatters”) suffered neurological damage (Korsakoff’s syndrome), thus giving rise to the expression.
I thought the title was quite clever.
Leaving aside the issue of whether whale populations can sustain responsible commercial whaling (the evidence seems to suggest they can), the major issue facing whaling advocates appears to be what to do with the meat, which most evidence now suggests is barely fit for human consumption.
++++++++++++
This is the kind of BS that the conservationists propagate. Certain types of animal meat are not meant to be eaten in excess- which is what this village has been doing.
You eat red meat, tuna, seal meat in excess, and you will have health problems. I wonder why Scandinavian countries have not had these problems?
Whales are not more delicious than beef.
However, it is valuable food for the Japanese. And, it is a culture.
“Culture”… To only Taiji apparently
Then,just kill whales and don’t eat them
OH GOD NOT ANOTHER WHALING POST. lordy lordy
Only Sea Shepherd can save them now…
THIS is the reason that movie was made — the extremely unhealthy mercury content.
I was surprised when the boring The Cove document informed me that a couple of council men or whatever managed to prevent dolphin meat from getting on the school menu.
Seriously though, what the hell do they teach in Japan? I knew about heavy metal accumulation by the time I was in junior high, why don’t the Japanese know about it? Wouldn’t it make sense to educate them since they eat a lot of sea food?
Were the people who tested high with this substance also tested to see if they were sane or insane? Is there a link to how the Japanese stuff we seem to like from Japan in entertainment is made and this? Are we buying products made from insane people?
Their children will be terminators.
This is just ridiculous and insane.
If high level of mercury is found in whale then high level of mercury is found in any types of fish and
food from the sea due to pollution.
If whale are eating sea stuff and little fishes and people are eating the whale or the sea stuff or little fishes will get the same.
You should read some of the other comments. Fish and people DO get mercury in their system. It’s just more concentrated in creatures higher up the food chain because they eat hundreds of fish, all of which are a little contaminated. The more you consume, the more it adds up.
And since I foresee that you’ll start blaming pollution, don’t bother. Most of the mercury found in oceans is naturally occurring.
The irony
no, it’s mercury.
comparing eating whale meat to minamata disease is like comparing riding a skateboard to taking a rocket.
just sayin’
Wow, reading the tone of this I can only assume there is someone on this site who likes sucking the sea sheppard crews cock.
Hope the captin enjoys his prison rape.
Agree with you. Now, go to eat some exotic animal cock. Put some soya for flavor.
Actually, the survey says that none of the people surveyed, even those with high levels of mercury detected in their hair, had any sort of medical issues related to mercury. Considering this has been going on for decades, they’re probably safe. The scientist in charge also speculated that it might be due to the fact that naturally occurring mercury is different from industrially produced mercury.
mercury is mercury, its a fucking element, there is no naturally occuring vs industrial
Gotta love it when people care more for the animal then there follow man.
That’s because they wouldn’t have gotten abnormal if they hadn’t eaten whales. Also, the people are said to have suffered no body or mental damage yet.
Some lifeforms just aren’t meant to be eaten.
So who’s up for some exotic elephant?
It’s basic ecology that toxins tend to accumulate in higher “Trophic Levels” or “Up the food chain” in plain English…
Things like Mercury and other “Heavy Metals” (1) tend to accumulate and essentially multiply with each animal being eaten. In most cases it’s fish eating countless “Plankton” but then they might get eaten by other fish, like sharks which also have a mercury danger to “Fin” enthusiasts.
Usually the worry with fish is how polluted the water is with Mercury and other stuff. But most fish have a lifestyle that anticipates high predation so they use every bit of excess energy to grow as fast as possible. What makes whales and sharks more of a danger is that they are “Top” creatures for the most part (save Man) and so they need a slower lifestyle (less death by violence/predation) and to live longer. (to become better hunters and reproduce when they do it less often) In addition they tend to travel farther than most fish have so if you are fishing in a ‘safe’ (low mercury) area, that’s no guarantee about a shark, dolphin or whale.
Thus, if you eat 1lb of whale meat you are eating the concentration of 10-100lbs of toxins versus fish meat. Or more. Or much more.
My opinion, we should have a moratorium on such meat for at least 20 years combined with careful management to get things back on track.
Then, I’m actually for people having things like shark fin soup, once in a blue moon (like yearly at worst) and provided the population/consumption is stable. But we should NEVER eat whale or dolphin. Whales, even “Killer” whales don’t eat us. Dolphins tend to attack sharks and save drowning people. The exception should be when a whale beaches itself naturally or some tribes like the Inuit who do hunt whale naturally.
1-And I don’t mean the sometimes awesome fantasy Magazine with Druuna and stuff!
What did cows ever do to you? Stop eating cows! They don’t hurt us either. What about Chickens? Pigs? Anything else? Your reasoning sucks.
Your reasoning on why people shouldn’t eat dolphin and whale meat shows hypocritical thinking at it’s finest.
Soon, there will be a “Taiji Syndrome”, where people living in Taiji will start to become insane, and then start hallucinating and then finally kill each other…
-Overall plot for “Kujira no Naku Koro Ni” (When the Whales Cry)
that might be good, but they’d have to change it up a bit, if it copies that whole disease thing, then it would just seem like a cheap knockoff of higurashi, I liked both Higurashi and Umineko, so you never know, it might actually work haha.
Insane hallucinating killers? The people turn into a zombie like state?
The next Resident Evil will be about Taiji… ^_^
The movie is called Tetsuo: The Iron Man. It’s even got a sequel.
So they are all metal heads on taiji? That must be one bad ass town where everyone looks like they came out of a manowar cover because of so much concentrated metal
So Tetsuo: The Iron Man was a documentary.
Heavy metal contamination \m/
Serves them right. I hope they enjoy the mercury as much as Newton did… more, even.
Keep on eatting that whale and dolphin meat, guys. I hope you choke on it.
Why aren’t you reporting the full story?
“TAIJI, Wakayama Pref. — Researchers have found extremely high methyl mercury concentrations in the hair of some residents of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, where people have a tradition of eating whale and dolphin, but none have developed any related illnesses.”
How about “3% of tested Taiji residents showed mercury concentrations in excess of WHO limits.”
“(…)but none have developed any related illnesses.”
Evolution at work, just as whales are trying to poison us to stop eating them, we’re developing immunities so we can keep eating them.
Polution might save the whales and dolphins?! What a weird concept…
Like the rest of Japan will care. They eat pufferfish, which is way more poisonous.
How dangerous it is initially has nothing to do with it. You can’t remove mercury from food without rendering it unedible (or assuming there is a way, the economics make it redundant). You can prepare puffers such that they’re safe to be eaten.
Hell, we’ve known for ages tuna have higher than average Hg levels, sure they’re not whale territory yet, but has that stopped people eating ’em? Go Go heavy metal poisoning… kill those kidneys, before the alcohol binge beats you to it.
They eat the non-poisonous parts.
But many people still die because of it; like having a Russian roulette for dinner.
Yeah, but the difference is that eat whales is like having a Russian roulette with a gun full of bullets. It’s pretty retarded, isn’t it?
We should just turn the whale into biodiesel. Keeps the whale population in check, gives us alternative fuels AND avoid mercury poisoning!
If you do that the people would breath the mercury fumes and still get sick.
Yeah, right… Like everyone will have their mouths wrapped around the exhaust-pipes of their cars.
As a side effect, now Rakshasa knows why the default gasoline for cars and light trucks is always Unleaded.
History is fun!
Schrobby is correct. It enters the atmosphere, is inhaled, and begins residence in the blood stream.
But don’t take my word for it, take a look at this Harvard publication illustrating the correlation between phasing out lead additives in gasoline, with lead concentrations in blood:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/review/review_fall_05/rvwfall05_schwartz.html
(Consult the first graph)
I have seen the effects of heavy metal poisoning first hand and it’s not in the least pleasing.
What happens?
For example, mercury if consumed in high quantities can cause some of the following:
Kidney damage, nerve fiber degeneration, mental retardation, gum bleeding and soreness, vision loss, immune dysfunction, anorexia, speech disorders, suicidal tendencies, and more displeasing effects.
Yeah, but it cures VD!
By killing you!
I think it would be killer to see a schism between anti-whaling activists, one side concerned about whales being poisoned and the other side opposing pollution regulations on the grounds that mercury decreases whaling.
Mercury content in whale flesh is apparently not due to pollution.
Maybe not entirely, but most of the mercury contamination is caused due to coal burning power plants and chlorine chemical plants.
Did you even read the damn article you posted yourself?
Mercury contamination has never been a problem during the pre-industrial age. All sorts of compounds, inorgnanic or otherwise are produced directly or as a bi-product. With methylmercury being the most toxic out of them all.
Naturally occurring mercury compounds have absolutely no role in the bodily functions of animals and have trouble passing through vessel walls.
If the same kind of mercury compounds were present since the beginning of time, shit like the Minamata disease would have happened hundreds of years and not just 50 years ago.
Dumbass.
No, you got it backwards. Pollution by humans contributes only a bit. The environment has that much mercury flowing around even without our help.
No, in point of fact most of the methylated mercury in the environment is naturally occurring and geologic in nature:
http://www.usgs.gov/themes/factsheet/146-00/
I agree that mankind isn’t helping the situation and that more needs to be done, but the fact is we aren’t nearly the largest source of contamination.
Well those sea Shepard crackpot might have won without ever trying haha.
Not exactly, most seafood can be considered under the same manner. Just that the whales consume a larger mass of material, thus leading to higher concentration perhaps.
AFAIK the same is true for sharks, eating those is unhealthy, too.
Its not the whales that are to be blamed, its pollution that is caused by us that are to be blamed.
i got heavy metal poisoning… i kinda liked it. i couldn’t stop listening to slipknot and stone sour.
-thebeast
You are not worthy the name of DFC.
Wrong. The environmentalists would certainly like you to think that, but that is not the case.
The largest contributor of methyl mercury in the food chain is natural by a large margin. So whales are going to be poisonous no matter what humans do.
Pollution is definitely the cause, but you know people try and blame a thousand other things before they fess up to that….
You’re actually a bit off the mark with that statement.
While humans certainly aren’t helping the matter, and have many negative influences on the environment overall, the largest sources of methylated mercury are natural and geological in nature.
http://www.usgs.gov/themes/factsheet/146-00/
I tried to let him down gently. 🙁
He’s not a ‘bit’ off the mark. He missed it completely.
No, it is not due to pollution.
Do some research before talking out of your ass.
well since they are mad now, They will sue the whles for poinening them…
Calling bullshit!
All those medical surveys are far to convinient at this particular moment.
It does seem pretty convenient, but at the same time it’s also plausible considering their eating habits.
then its a new defensive mechanism against man who like to eat them ?
Perhaps its evolution at work. Eat us and get cancer…
good, they have to stop eating whale and dolphin anyway.. we already have so many healthy and delicious food option..
like DFC and KFC.
DFC is for licking and sucking, not eating. ^_^
That’s the point!
CHICKEN AND COW POINT BLAME AT DOLPHIN AND WHALE…The Japanese slaughters cows and chickens… Now the Japanese are normal like us from the west…
Oh the irony.
They are just trying to make people paranoid, like carcinogens in prepared food.
yes, theyre just trying to make people paranoid by providing scientific proof that their mercury levels are dangerously high
Yeah, and like Carcinogens in Tobacco.
and i love cancerogens in drinks ^^
Is it really that hard to just start eating something else.
anon @21:33 is a dumbass. must be a girl, surely didn’t read what artefact wrote. artefact said the mercury is an organic product from the whale. not from pollution. the very next thing the anon says is, yeah, i know that, but the POLLUTION…!
rofl.
Dolphin love? There is an article about that. ^_^
[url=http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2009/02/04/dolphin-raeps-girl/]Here you go: Dolphin raeps girl[/url]
Dolphin love? There is an article about that. ^_^
They complain about the whales.. but what about the DOLPHINS?! Where is their love when they need it?!
RACISTS i tell you! RACISTS!!!
Yes, I am aware of that fact since it’s in your article but the point still stand however that the anger and hatred here is directed in a completely wrong direction. Most of these pollutions are caused by men and all of us know it. Whalers are just a easier target here for our sea “loving” friends since major sources of man-made mercury compounds dumped into the sea are by much bigger corporations and maybe even nations.
The mercury content in apex predators is not due to pollution – it is a natural organic product which happens to be toxic in high concentrations.
And what I don’t see is why eco-terrorists don’t go after these polluters instead. I mean, THEY, clearly are harming every single whale and dolphin in the sea and yet it’s the whalers who hunt a minority of a non-endangered species of whale that take the heat. Can’t they see that in the long run it will be pollution that wipe out marine life and not whalers? Publicity who*e much?
You mean terrorists driving in front of a giant ship then crying foul?
^^^ no his point is more that they’re endangered species. It’s more a point of environmental destruction, but at this point we’re pretty much fucked as far as that and natural resource consumption go as our overpopulated societies completely depend on them just to run and the rate at which we’re consuming without a viable energy alternative in sight to move all of the shit we need for daily life to maintain the lifestyles we lead it probably won’t matter what we do now.
Might not be in my lifetime, and I’m not going to say “maybe in my children’s lifetime” because, well, that should be obvious, but it won’t be too long before what we need to keep it all running is gone.
… but it is true that due to pollution there is mercury content in many of the sea creatures that we use for food. If you eat seafood regularly over a very long time, there’s a good you might see some ill effects. This is more pronounced in places like Japan that eat a lot more seafood than most other countries.
what goes around comes around for killing animals not meant to be eaten >=]
So basically eating whale and dolphin makes dumb? That explains some things, like whalers ramming other ships… ^_^
Or it might just be karma for the Cove incident. I don’t think I slept well after that documentary…
this is why CHICKEN AND COW were made.
No, THIS is the reason The Cove was made.
haha they deserved it, whale are not for eat, it’s already cruel to kill the whale & dolphin…