Japan's decision to go after humpback whales prompts the British press to go after the Japanese.
Despite an international moratorium, a whaling fleet is heading for the Antarctic to catch a quota of 50 humpbacks under the guise of "scientific research".
The Independent describes this excuse as a "risible fiction believed by no one outside of Japan, as the meat from the kills is sold on the open market". The paper reminds us that the humpback was saved from extinction in 1963.
The Indy predicts new clashes at sea between conservationists and Japanese whalers of the kind not seen since the 1970s and 80s. The environment editor Michael McCarthy makes it clear which side he is on: "The fact that Japanese whalers now want to fire explosive harpoons into one of the world's most wonderful animals strikes me as barbaric in the extreme."
Under the headline "Save the Whale, Again", the front of the paper carries a picture of a humpback leaping out of the water. McCarthy describes witnessing such a leap on a holiday in Cape Cod. "It was an unforgettable spectacle from an unforgettable creature," he says.
The Times covers the same story in a more traditional, balanced way, which seems po faced compared to the Independent's tone. "The whaling debate consistently places Japan on the receiving end of emotional condemnation," it says.
Putting the other side of the argument, it says: "Japan, which defends whaling as a cultural tradition, argues that stocks can survive the size of cull it is planning". It reckons Japanese support for whaling stems from "a horror of being dictated to by the outside world".
The irony, for the Independent, is that "as Japan's dwindling band of whalemeat eaters will tell you, humpback doesn't even taste very good".
This is an edited extract from the Wrap, our digest of the daily papers.
