The recent capture of five orca whales at Taiji, Japan is a true tragedy. According to news reports, they are to be sold to marine amusement parks and a whale museum.
Orca pods appear very infrequently in Japanese waters.
Destroying even one orca family could cause great harm to the very small orca population in Japan. The Taiji situation apparently arose from a permit to capture orcas for research purposes. However, according to news reports, the whales apparently will be used for business and entertainment purposes. It's obvious that the conditions of the permit have been violated. I recently sent a letter to the Japanese ambassador to the United States urging that the five whales be immediately released.