The killing of a blue whale reveals how disconnected we are from nature | Philip Hoare
(The Guardian Japan)

We need a better story than the pathetic one played out by beautiful animals that we haul into the sea of our ignoranceThey might as well have shot a giant panda. This week an Icelandic whaling company, Hvalur hf, caused uproar when it was revealed that it had killed a blue whale. Hvalur has killed hundreds of fin whales - mostly destined as meat for export to Japan. It resumed its hunt in June, after a three-year hiatus. But no blue whale - a highly endangered cetacean - has been deliberately killed for 40 years.`We have never caught a blue whale in our waters since they were protected,` Kristján Loftsson, the managing director of Hvalur told CNN. `We see them in the ocean. When you approach a blue whale, it´s so distinct that you leave it alone.` Related: Underwater with Sri Lanka`s sperm whales - in pictures Charismatic megafauna