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.'"

Comments

Dead? Killed!

[orthogonal]

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?

Bloody scientists out for 15 minutes of fame...

[stjobe]

"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.