Skipweasel - I think that is pretty resourceful to actually consume any extra whale meat after the scientific research has been completed. It may serve as a valuable souce of protein and essential blubber to an undernourashed population.

I think it is a shame that so much money has gone towards this boat when we should be focusing more on developing sustainable whaling operations. The Japanese conform to international law and only capture whales for scientific research, and I am fairly certain that they practice solid catch and release in most instances.