I believe what you’re saying, but I don’t want to go look. I’ve seen sharks bludgeoned to death on the fishing piers of North Carolina, and it bothered me terribly (and they aren’t mammals). Humans can be so incredibly callous to animals, something I’ve learned first hand through dog rescue, especially while working in rescue in Spain, where animals are often tortured as entertainment (you thought Japan was bad, think about doing it for fun rather than for food). I love Spaniards, don’t get me wrong, but there is part of that population–Old Spain–that continues to live by superstition and backwards tradition. Amongst them are the few rescue workers that realize the horrific nature of it and who work so hard to change the culture. Now that we’re back in the States, we volunteer as Zoo Docents, educating the population about conservation. But as you mentioned, it seems nearly impossible to change the Japanese ways of fishing (and over fishing). They just see these animals as food and resources to be used at their disposal. It will take a lot of educating to change them. Given our tendency to ignore animal rights issues, I doubt we’ll take it on with any force to create change any time soon. Sad.