PHOTO! Here is a picture of a captured minke whale and its calf. This pic of a minke whale killed and dragged onto a whaling boat is part of the international concern Friday.

The governments of Japan and New Zealand are under fire for proposed deals permitting a number of minke wales to be captured and killed. The latest deal offer has New Zealand granting whaling countries the authority to kill up to 1500 whales per year. The deal is up for a vote this June 2010.

The Humane Society International is calling the proposed deal horrible. Since 1986 there has been a ban on commercial whaling. But this deal would do away with that ban in part.

Others contend that cultures don’t all perceive whaling the same as the U.S. and many other countries do. Critics say culture is not at issue, rather an end to a decades old moratorium on commercial whaling.