Let's look at whaling from various cultural perspectives. For example, what do the Japanese say about:

• the strong tradition of guns in the United States? Protected by the Constitution, law-biding citizens have the right to own a gun for self-defense purposes. But has this given Americans the perception of a safer place?

• the practice of human sacrifice, a defining characteristic of many Latin American cultures hundreds of years ago? They killed their own people to honor their gods, thus ensuring harmony and peace for an entire people.

• slavery in the United States? Should it have remained?

My point is that to say "whaling is a Japanese tradition dating back to the early 1600s" or that "taking 50 humpbacks from a population of tens of thousands will have no significant impact whatsoever" are ignorant statements setting back the notion that cultures get wiser over time. Is this what Japan wants?

Don't insult people's intelligence by saying that "killing whales lets marine biologists study their internal organs . . . earwax indicates age, and stomach contents reveal eating habits." Do we kill newborn children to study their eating habits? Do we kill senior citizens to get clues to the mysteries of aging?

Japan (or any other nation) need not kill humpback whales. Instead, it should put money into alternative/subsistence agribusiness showing future generations how to live in harmony with one's environment. Or use the advancements in marine biology science and technology to find nonlethal ways of researching whales.

If killing the whales is not about profit, then this should not be a problem, should it? Bottom line: Japan is better than this. Stop killing whales.

wayne malcolm