[e] 続き
I found the following link http://www.whaling.jp/qa.html, which explains the scientific resarch as something Japan started back in 1982 when a moratorium was passed. This site claims that the moratorium was passed because there wasn's sufficient scientific data to prove that Whaling was something "safe" and therefore Japan is out there to collect reliable scientifc data - ie. live whales. Hmm....at least this is one view.
/e