A Japanese proposal to create the world’s first whale farm is not playing well with environmentalists, who describe it as “totally unfeasible” and possibly a smokescreen for the nation’s notorious whale-hunting activities. None of that has deterred the town of Hirado, in southwestern Japan, from making preparations for the farm, claiming it will attract tourists and enable scientists to study the behavior and breeding patterns of minke whales. It is unclear whether some of the animals would be killed for use in Japanese restaurants, where whale meat is a delicacy. Japanese authorities hailed the idea and said it would provide valuable information about whale behavior, but critics said it was absurd to think that a highly migratory species would behave normally in captivity.
