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Nature Releases New Model of Whale

Chromodromic writes "Yahoo! is running a story about Japanese scientists who say they have identified a new species of whale. The animal is a type of baleen, the family of whales that strain tiny plankton and other food from seawater. Apparently the discovery was made through the DNA analysis of nine already dead specimens. Expected follow-up: 'Japanese scientists announce extinction of newly discovered whale.'"

39 comments

  1. JEESE! by Leroy_Brown242 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Soon everyone will have thier own whale distro, like Linux!

    1. Re:JEESE! by jilles · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      One word: suse!

      --

      Jilles
    2. Re:JEESE! by computersareevil · · Score: 1

      Only if they pay $699 to SCO for fishing "license"...

      (Sorry. Just shoot me...)

  2. Released just now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    While it seems fine and dandy, remember that the dearly beloved God promised this new whale by Q3 of 1999.

    Besides, don't get too excited, the sources tell me it's a beta version.

    1. Re:Released just now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well it was a pretty *big* project.

    2. Re:Released just now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dear God,

      Please resist the urge to license IBM's patented BurstHole technology; your blowholes have enough throughput, honest. Please also consider open-sourcing the new species.

  3. Attacked by birds by CowboyNick · · Score: 1

    Maybe they were fighting it out with the birds.

    --
    -CowboyNick
  4. how much per pound? by Optical+Voodoo+Man · · Score: 1

    I wonder how high the price per pound will be for the whale meat if it's so rare that we've never seen one before? It sounded like a pretty subtle difference between this whale and other similar species. Was there a suble difference in the taste that made them look at the DNA?

    1. Re:how much per pound? by Mattygfunk1 · · Score: 1
      Do people really eat whale? I thought they were mainly used for oils and other whale products.

      __
      Cool cheap web hosting provider.

  5. You forgot the most important question by crmartin · · Score: 2, Funny

    How did it taste?

  6. Dead? Killed! by orthogonal · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Apparently the discovery was made through the DNA analysis of nine already dead specimens.

    Already dead since they'd been "harvested" (hunted) for "scientific research". After the "research" requirements are met, in order not to waste precious resources, the whales are turned over to Japan's whaling industry.

    As it happens, Japan does a lot of "scientific research", "harvesting" a quantity of whales that just coincidently matches the country's appetite for whale meat and blubber, considered a delicacy by the Japanese.

    But it's all about science, really. As it happens the new species was identified by examining skeletons of whales "harvested" in 1970.

    So only 33 years after the whales were turned into sushi, the science has caught up! Great work Japan!

    I hope the new species hasn't already been hunted, I mean harvested, I mean researched, to extinction. Wouldn't that be ironic?

    1. Re:Dead? Killed! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, most of the specimins were thirty years old. The recent one that the genetic analysis was done on was killed accidentally (The article doesn't specify why, but I'd guess it was probably boatstrike. A few slashes from a ships propeller will kill a 30-foot whale pretty easily. Many fishnets would have broken - the whale would have been hurt or killed, but less likely to have been recovered, since it would be gone when they pulled the nets up).

  7. Translation by WTFmonkey · · Score: 4, Funny
    For the benefit of any whales who happen to be reading this,

    eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee awha-a awha-a .rrrrrrrrrrach rrrrrrrrrrrrach bwo bwo bwo. phssssssthpok phssssthpok aaaiiiieee. Aiieeee gRR!gRR!gRRooooo!

    iiiiii iiiiiiiii iiiii br-er-er-er-er-i br-er br-er-br-oi-oooooooo ooo ooaeaeae.

    1. Re:Translation by The+Munger · · Score: 1

      Gee... I wish I could speak whale.

      --
      Refuse to make a statement in your sig!
    2. Re:Translation by RobertB-DC · · Score: 1

      Gee... I wish I could speak whale.

      Well, it wouldn't really help much in this case.

      You just lose too much in the transliteration, since Slashdot doesn't support the "Whale, Northwest Pacific" Unicode character set.

      --
      Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
    3. Re:Translation by hoggoth · · Score: 2, Funny

      > phssssssthpok

      Was this whale talking to a Pak Protector?

      --
      - For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat /dev/random (may take some time)
    4. Re:Translation by Uma+Thurman · · Score: 0

      I can speak sperm whale.

      (gargling sound)

      --
      This is America, damnit. Speak Spanish!
    5. Re:Translation by pipingguy · · Score: 1


      Thanks A LOT, bonehead.

      Now people in the 23d century are going to have to unfreeze Shatner, Nimoy and three-fingered Doohan to undo the stuff that you just triggered.

      In 2274 people will be cursing your name as Bill resurrects his singing career.

    6. Re:Translation by gnovos · · Score: 4, Funny

      iiiiii iiiiiiiii iiiii br-er-er-er-er

      Not to be a grammar cop, but I think you meant:

      iiiiii iiiiiBWOOOOO BWOOii iiiii br-er-er-er-er

      Conjugation counts.

      --
      "Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
    7. Re:Translation by WTFmonkey · · Score: 1

      At least one person caught it. Good eye.

  8. Expected follow-up by Bowling+Moses · · Score: 2, Funny

    Expected follow-up: "Japanese food scientists announce newly discovered whale is tasty."

    But seriously, food science is still science. The happiest research chemist I ever met was the guy who develops new flavors of gummy bears. However, it's still at best highly questionable that any real research is done by Japanese (or whoever) whaling.

    1. Re:Expected follow-up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Funny. I know a guy who helped develop the new vitamin enhanced gummy bears.

  9. Bloody scientists out for 15 minutes of fame... by stjobe · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Can you imagine? An animal of more than 10 meters was unknown to us even in the 21st century," said Tadasu Yamada of Tokyo's National Science Museum, the senior author of the study that appears in this week's issue of the journal Nature.

    Unknown to us? Hardly. It was just that this species was so like fin whales it took DNA analysis of nine different specimen to separate this "unknown animal" from fin whales.

    Sure it's nice that careful DNA analysis shows that this indeed is (or at least might be - the jury is still out) a separate species, but that really don't justify the sensationalism.

    --
    "Total destruction the only solution" - Bob Marley
    1. Re:Bloody scientists out for 15 minutes of fame... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, it's not just the DNA analysis. The different number of baleen plates would be the major clinching evidence. DNA tests would just be to see how divergent they are, not wether or not they are divergent.

      Baleen plates are the same as teeth. Mammals have very little variablility in the number of teeth in species. Finding an extra set or one set less is a good sign you have a divergent population (Although not neccessarily a speciation).

  10. Recent program shows odd trouble for whalers by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I think it was the bbc but it showed a program about japan and the whaling industry. The japanese are hanging on to it by all their might. Why? Because the japanese consumers wants to eat whalemeat? Hardly. In fact the japanese consumers DOESN'T want to eat whalemeat. It is in such low demand that they have set up a subsidised fast foot restaurant to try to get people to eat heavily subisdised meat.

    It seems more of a pride issue. The more the rest of the world says they should stop the more the old guard in japan, the same ones who see nothing wrong with japans war crimes, insist on keeping whaling alive.

    --

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    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

    1. Re:Recent program shows odd trouble for whalers by zenyu · · Score: 1

      It seems more of a pride issue. The more the rest of the world says they should stop the more the old guard in japan, the same ones who see nothing wrong with japans war crimes, insist on keeping whaling alive.

      Sounds like Iceland. Whale meat isn't particularly tasty, but it's traditional. Sort of like canabalism was in certain populations in the last century. Hopefully someday we will find new traditions. At least with pre-European American settlers it's not just tradition but also their great poverty that sends them out on the kill, maybe low tax cigarette sales will help with that problem.

    2. Re:Recent program shows odd trouble for whalers by wiwo · · Score: 1

      Whale meat isn't particularly tasty, but it's traditional. Sort of like canabalism was in certain populations in the last century.

      But human meat is tasty, a little sweet, though.

  11. Well said by quinkin · · Score: 1
    Thank you - I couldn't be bothered to type all of that, but it needed to be said. Sensationalised pseudo-scientific media hype *grumble mutter*...

    Q.

    --
    Insert Signature Here
  12. More Info at National Geographic by Cy+Guy · · Score: 3, Informative

    For example its actually two new identified species since whales previously all considered Bryde's Whales are now considered to make up three distinct species - two known types previously thought to be the same species: Bryde's, and Eden, and this third species B. omurai.

    I take this to be good news, because if there are three distinct species that cannot be visually distinguished from each other, and one of them is determined to be rare or threatened, the Japanese will have a much harder time arguing for an outright hunt of Bryde's. I just hope they don't take the now proven usefulness of DNA information collected through "scientific" whaling, to be evidence that that particular insult to science should be continued or even expanded.

  13. RIAA subpeonas scientist for 9 unauthorized Whales by kolombangara · · Score: 0

    RIAA subpoenas Japanese scientists for 9 unauthorized Whales at US$175,000 per violation.

    RIAA intends to seize all properties associated with the baleen Whales, who they say have rights to all science journal artwork, magazine articles, photographs and scientific models. A 972 page Cease and Desist letter requesting voluntarily compliance have been sent to all Japanese Elementary school students, and the scientist who had pictures of Whales in fishskin on his hard-drive.

    Initially the funds(lawsuits) generated from the newly discovered Whale would have been used by privileged RIAA members and attorneys for "entertainment tasks" and other "unspecified usage" for the 100 year war against piracy, and that no records would be kept. But after much public outcry(a web survey) regarding the use of funds secured on behalf of the whales, RIAA quickly reversed it's decision and announced all money harvested for the Balaenoptera Omurai Whale will be donated to ~Whalers With Aids~. The gesture caused the American public had a giant social orgasm, and continues to consume the popular Le' Big Orca at McDonalds.

    UPDATE: RIAA sues Whalers With Aids on behalf of Bunny Wailer, says spellng differences are no difference to those who can't read or write.

    UPDATE: RIAA sues Bunny Wailer on behalf of Whalers With Aids.

  14. Japan eh? by gnovos · · Score: 1

    Yes, but how do they taste?

    --
    "Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
  15. No. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's the Alanis Morressett definition of ironic. See Inconvenient, adj.

    1. Re:No. by Valdrax · · Score: 2, Informative

      No, it would be the proper definition of ironic as a marine biologist team who exists to provide a warm, friendly, tree-hugging smokescreen for the whaling industry announces the glorious news of a new kind of whale only to find out that the industry which they were protecting destroyed them all decades ago.

      See definition #3. Also, if this were a disingenuous ploy to expose that the whaling industry had killed them off, then it could be construed as definition #1.

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      If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
  16. The most important question... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... Does it run linux? I mean, how can Nature compete in this very incited market if it does not support multiple platforms? Supporting only the Continental platform is really not a good choice at the moment.

  17. It tastes good. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The flavor is a combination of California Condor and Spotted Owl.