What has been done at Taiji is unacceptable, morally and ethically, in a world now trying to find ways to release captive animals. Nobody has the right to do what the people who captured these whales did. This will be a great tradedy. The size of the Japanese Orca population is unknown but probably very small. Destroying even one orca family could cause great harm to the population.
Orcas live long lives, reproduce slowly and infant mortality is high.
Acoustic and cultural traditions exist within Orca families and find various forms of expression in orca populations around the world. Little is known of these traditions in orcas, but they certainly exist. The obvious actual purpose of the capture was to take orcas for entertainment and business purposes. Because of this, the permit should be revoked. The eyes of the world are again on Japan.