For a long time‚ orcas (or killer whales) were all believed to be one species but with different "ecotypes" in various regions‚ but scientists have now identified at least two distinct species in the North Pacific Ocean. They argue there are enough differences to declare the Bigg's killer whales and resident killer whales separate species. This discovery was based on a suite of information‚ including morphological‚ behavioral‚ acoustic‚ genetic‚ and other data.The wolf or wolves of the ocean?In 1758‚ Carl Linnaeus‚ the grandfather of species classification‚ described killer whales as a single species – Delphinus orca – which was later moved to the genus Orcinus. From then on‚ various scientists have claimed to have identified other species of the iconic and easily recognizable marine mammal (they are actually the largest member of the dolphin family‚ just to complicate things) that roam and ravage the world’s oceans. However‚ many of these claims were based on single skeletons‚ which have been insufficient for scientists to accept more broadly. Then‚ in the 1860s‚ a Californian whaling captain called Charles Melville Scammon (a name worthy of the sea) produced a manuscript describing several large marine mammals that he had seen during his voyages. Among the entries were orcas‚ which Scammon referred to as “the wolves of the ocean”‚ which‚ he eloquently wrote‚ lived “by violence and plunder.” According to his observations‚ killer whales could be separated into two species‚ one that had tall‚ sharp dorsal fins (which he called high-finned orcas) and one that had shorter‚ blunt dorsal fins (low-finned orcas). After compiling his descriptions‚ Scammon sent them for review to Edward Drinker Cope‚ the infamous Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute who is better known today for his involvement in the ridiculous dinosaur Bone Wars. Examples of the illustrations Scammon included in his manuscript. It is not clear whether he drew them himself or they were created by someone following his descriptions. (A) shows O. ater‚ () shows O. rectipinnusImage credit: Morin et al‚ 2024‚ Royal Society Open Science.True to his character‚ Cope ended up editing and then publishing Scammon’s manuscript without his permission (though he did credit the whaling captain for his descriptions). According to his changes‚ the tall-finned whales were named to be named Orca rectipinna (Latin for “erect wing”)‚ and the shorter-finned ones were called Orca ater (Latin for “black”).Despite their efforts‚ it is likely Scammon and Cope got it wrong in many ways. They may have merely described differences between male and female orcas (the former are known to have taller‚ sharper-looking dorsal fins while the latter have shorter‚ blunter ones). However‚ it seems they were on the right track. The differences are more than fin deep Over the centuries‚ regional differences in various characteristics have led to the recognition of several sub-forms of orcas that are separated into “types” and “ecotypes”‚ rather than separate species. The factors here include the animals’ body size‚ color‚ patterning‚ social structure‚ vocalization patterns‚ and foraging strategies. In the North Pacific‚ there are three known ecotypes. The Bigg’s (or sometimes ‘transient’) orca‚ so-called resident orcas‚ and Offshore orca. Each one has its own individual characteristics related to its distribution‚ preferred habitat‚ and diet. For instance‚ Bigg’s orcas are most commonly observed on the continental shelf in temperate to Arctic waters. They prefer to feed on other marine mammals‚ including seals and whales‚ whereas resident orcas prefer coastal waters in the eastern Pacific‚ and tend to eat fish‚ especially salmon. The Offshore orcas‚ on the other hand‚ primarily live in waters off the continental shelf and are far more mysterious than the other two. But they are known to hunt fish‚ including elasmobranchs (cartilaginous fish‚ such as sharks‚ rays‚ skates‚ and sawfish). For some time‚ biologists have increasingly taken notice of key differences between Bigg’s and resident orcas. In addition to their differing diets‚ residents tend to move in tight-knit family pods‚ while Bigg’s prefer to roam in smaller groups. They’re the most different killer whales in the world‚ and they live right next to each other and see each other all the time. They just don't mix.In the 1970s‚ the Canadian scientist Michael Bigg noticed that the killer whales that ended up with his name did not mix with their residential counterparts. This is typically a sign of two different species. But now researchers from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries (NOAA) and universities have confirmed Bigg’s suspicions – they are indeed two different species. “We started to ask this question 20 years ago‚ but we didn’t have much data‚ and we did not have the tools that we do now‚” Phil Morin‚ an evolutionary geneticist at NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center said in a statement. “Now we have more of both‚ and the weight of the evidence says these are different species.”The results from genetic data show that the two species probably diverged around 300‚000 years ago and emerged from opposite ends of the orca family tree. Subsequent genomic research confirmed that they evolved as genetically and culturally distinct groups that just happen to occupy similar waters. “They’re the most different killer whales in the world‚ and they live right next to each other and see each other all the time‚” said Barbara Taylor‚ a former NOAA Fisheries marine mammal biologist who was part of the science panel that assessed the status of Southern Residents. “They just do not mix.”The proposed names for these two species of orcas are now being based on the original names offered by Scammon and Cope. If their proposals are accepted by the Taxonomy Committee of the Society of Marine Mammalogy later this year‚ then the Bigg’s orcas will become Orcinus rectipinnus‚ while the resident orcas will be known as Orcinus ater.While orcas are among the most widespread mammals in the world‚ second only to humans‚ there are still many mysteries surrounding them. It is likely that‚ in the near future‚ we will see the identification of other killer whale species. These may well include the so-called “Type D” orcas that have been seen in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. The paper is published in the Royal Society Open Science. 

What do you make of them? To learn more‚ read here.

Mount Sinai – a deeply sacred site in Judaism‚ Christianity‚ and Islam – is the location where Moses was given the Ten Commandments stone tablets by God‚ according to the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible. Like many settings in the Bible‚ it’s thought to be based on a real place‚ although where exactly is the subject of fervid debate among scholars.Also known as Jabal Musa‚ which means "Mount Moses" in Arabic‚ Mount Sinai on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt is one of several locations claimed to be the biblical Mount Sinai. The site is brimming with religious lore and history. At the foot of the 2‚285-meter (7‚497-foot) tall mountain‚ you can find Saint Catherine's Monastery‚ the world's oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery (and the world's oldest continually operating library). The monastery was founded in the 6th century CE by Emperor Justinian I at the site where Moses is supposed to have seen the burning bush. It also features a chapel that encloses the rock which some believe is the source for the biblical Tablets of Stone that Moses received.Jabal Musa is commonly cited as the biblical Mount Sinai because there’s some evidence to suggest the mountain in question is located in the southern part of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. “Several factors suggest the Israelites fled southward into Sinai and that Mount Sinai should be located in the southern sector of the peninsula. First‚ Exodus 13:17 warned against travel by the 'way of the land of the Philistines.' This route‚ which hugged the northern coast‚ was the major military route used by the pharaohs and was heavily garrisoned‚" Dr Thomas Williams‚ professor of theology at Regina Apostolorum Pontifical Athenaeum in Rome‚ told the Doubting Thomas Research Foundation.Saint Catherine's Monastery‚ located at the foot of Mount Sinai‚ is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Image credit: Georg Arthur Pflueger/Unsplash"Second‚ Deuteronomy 1:2 locates Mount Sinai as an eleven-day journey from Kadesh-barnea‚ a note that fits best with a Mount Sinai located somewhere in the southern peninsula‚” Williams continued.“Third‚ the Israelites lost the exact location of Mount Sinai after 850 BCE when Elijah fled to the holy mountain. Had the holy mountain been located in the more frequented regions of the north‚ surely its location would be remembered‚” he continued.However‚ not everyone agrees this is the true location of Mount Sinai spoken about in the Torah‚ Bible‚ and Quran. Religious scholars have put forward at least 14 different possible locations of biblical Mount Sinai. This includes a host of mountains hundreds of miles apart across Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula‚ Jordan‚ Saudi Arabia‚ and Israel.Some of this confusion is fuelled by inconsistencies in the Biblical texts. The Book of Exodus states that Moses was handed the Godly Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai‚ while the Book of Deuteronomy suggests the exchange happened at Mount Horeb. There might have simply been two different names for the same place‚ but it's not perfectly clear.Many modern biblical scholars argue that Mount Sinai is not a single place‚ but an amalgamation of many different legendary myths from around the Middle East. Over centuries‚ these stories were passed down‚ edited‚ fused with others‚ and added upon‚ obscuring their original context and content. “Most scholars believe that the location of Mount Sinai is unknowable from the available textual evidence. As a scholar of the Hebrew Bible and language‚ I agree with them‚” Jacob F. Love‚ a lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Tennessee‚ wrote in an article for The Conversation.“Based on all the evidence – or lack thereof – I argue that Sinai is located not in any specific place but rather in the hearts and minds of those who treasure the meaning of the Hebrew Bible‚” he added.

Something strange is going on in Florida (well‚ stranger than usual). Critically endangered smalltooth sawfish have been spotted erratically spinning and whirling around in the Lower Florida Keys‚ while dozens more have died under mysterious circumstances.The situation has become so severe that the NOAA Fisheries has initiated a first-of-its-kind emergency response effort to prevent additional deaths. Together with several conversation organizations and aquariums‚ they plan on rescuing and rehabilitating the affected animals in specialized quarantine facilities."If the opportunity presents itself‚ this would be the first attempt ever to rescue and rehabilitate smalltooth sawfish from the wild‚" Adam Brame‚ NOAA Fisheries' sawfish recovery coordinator‚ said in a statement.“Our goal is to release all rescued sawfish back to the wild once rehabilitated‚” added Brame.  As of March 24‚ 109 sawfish had been impacted by this event and there’s been 28 documented deaths. It appears that most of the affected individuals are large individuals measuring 2.1 to 4.3 meters (7 to 14 feet) in length.“We suspect that total mortalities are greater‚ since sawfish are negatively buoyant and thus unlikely to float after death. Given the limited population size of smalltooth sawfish‚ the mortality of at least two dozen sawfish could have an impact on the recovery of this species‚” said Brame. With their long‚ flat snout that is lined with sharp transverse teeth‚ sawfish look like a half-shark and half-chainsaw. Their unusual saw snouts are used to hunt; along with helping them dig around sedimented seabeds‚ it also emits an electrical field that helps them find prey. Taxonomically‚ they belong to the subclass Elasmobranchii alongside sharks‚ rays‚ and skates. There are at least five species of sawfish‚ all of which are critically endangered with extinction. The species having a hard time in the Lower Florida Keys at the moment is the smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata).Currently‚ everyone is stumped on what’s causing the problem. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has been carrying out sawfish necropsies‚ but has not found any evidence of infections‚ nor problems with low water oxygen levels‚ pollution‚ or toxic red tide‚ according to the Associated Press. Water testing is ongoing and they’re even attempting to collect samples from live distressed sawfish. While all options are still on the table‚ climate change may be a potential factor. Last year‚ South Florida’s seawater temperature reached a devastating 38.3°C (101°F)‚ around the same as a hot bath. With temperatures as scorching as this‚ it’s hard to imagine it’s not having a big impact on the region’s biodiversity. 

As a result of concerns over the survival of owl species native to western North America‚ the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has made a draft proposal to cull nearly half a million barred owls over the course of three decades. This plan‚ however‚ has been met with uproar by animal advocacy groups.Barred owls are typically native to the eastern coast of North America‚ but over the last 100 years or so‚ have expanded their range to the western coast. According to the USFWS‚ the species is invasive‚ and poses a threat to two species native to the east – the northern spotted owl‚ which is listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act‚ and the California spotted owl‚ which is in decline.The barred owl is something of a generalist when it comes to its food and habitat‚ which can present a problem for the other two species – though deforestation has also been an issue for them.“Because of their larger size‚ adaptability to a wide variety of forested habitats‚ and ability to eat a wide variety of prey‚ barred owls often occur in denser populations‚ outcompeting and excluding spotted owls from the latter’s preferred habitats‚” reads a draft impact statement released by the USFWS back in November 2023.In that draft impact statement‚ the USFWS outlined its plan for “the use of firearms to lethally remove” over 470‚000 barred owls over 30 years in order to manage the problem‚ also exploring why some alternative plans wouldn't be feasible. Under the chosen plan‚ roughly 90 percent of the barred owl population in designated areas would be removed each year.“The purpose of this action is to reduce barred owl populations to improve the survival and recovery of northern spotted owls and to prevent declines in California spotted owls from barred owl competition‚” the statement adds.Unsurprisingly‚ the proposed plan hasn’t gone down to well with animal advocacy groups‚ 75 of whom have signed a letter‚ released on Monday‚ to Secretary of the Interior Deborah Haaland‚ urging that the “reckless” plan be scrapped. “This plan will cause severe disruptions to wildlife from the forest floor to its canopies‚” reads the letter‚ “producing an untold number of mistaken-identity kills of other native owl species (including spotted owls)‚ disrupting nesting behavior for animals‚ poisoning wildlife from dispersed and fragmented lead‚ and causing rapid dispersal and social chaos among many other species inhabiting these forest ecosystems.”Whilst that sounds like a pretty scathing review‚ not all animal advocates agree with the letter. Tom Wheeler‚ executive director of the Environmental Protection Information Center‚ told the LA Times that the conclusions made were “divorced from what’s actually being proposed.”The protocol for removing the owls requires the use of non-lead ammunition‚ for example‚ to ensure that there’s no lead poisoning‚ whilst there’s also an outlined protocol on how to avoid killing the wrong species that involves using trained and tested individuals.“We have a functional choice‚ which is the extinction of one species‚ or we could have both species continue to exist on the landscape‚” argued Wheeler.At present‚ the proposal remains a draft‚ though public comments on the plan closed back in January. Until such a time a full proposal is published‚ as for the fate of all three owl species? We’ll simply have to wait and see.[H/T: Los Angeles Times]

The Daily Wire host Matt Walsh hammered a major television network for trying to sell an unconstitutional Environmental Protection Agency power grab to the American public.  On the March 27 edition of The Matt Walsh Show‚ Walsh went after both the EPA and CBS News for defending President Joe Biden’s push to “phase out all gas-powered vehicles.”  After playing a CBS News segment on the EPA power grab that was announced on March 20th‚ Walsh noted that both EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan and the cast at CBS pushed an illusion of choice on Americans‚ insisting that the EPA’s new regulation was not truly an electric vehicle mandate.  “The reporter assures us this EPA rule isn’t anything like an EV mandate because it doesn’t strictly require that automakers only manufacture EVs. Technically‚ they can make hybrids‚ they can make hydrogen cars‚” Walsh said‚ going through a list of cars that did not include the gas-powered vehicles that most Americans drive. Walsh’s comments followed a March 21 CBS Mornings segment‚ obsequiously reporting on the mandate announced the day before.  Walsh pointed out that similar to CBS‚ Regan is also trying to hoodwink Americans as the Biden administration takes away their choices. “[Regan] claimed that the agency is simply expanding consumer choice by telling us things that we can’t have and can’t drive‚ they’re actually expanding our options‚” Walsh said sarcastically. “It’s addition by subtraction apparently‚ because of course in reality‚ rather than expanding our choices they’re doing the opposite and that talking point completely obscures what’s really happening here.”   The Daily Wire host laid Biden’s plans bare with none of CBS’ careful language. “The Biden administration is using the EPA‚ using a bureaucracy‚ using unelected bureaucrats to effectively pass a law banning the sale of most gas cars without ever consulting the voters and without ever getting the legislative branch of government involved at all‚” Walsh said. He also noted that the law-making responsibility usurped by the EPA belongs to Congress. He went on to discuss the rule itself. “Specifically‚ the EPA’s new rule demands that car manufacturers slash emissions on all new passenger cars‚ SUVs‚ crossovers‚ minivans‚ light trucks and pickups by roughly 50% by the year 2032. And by the EPA’s own estimates that means that up to 56% of new vehicles will have to be EVs and at least 13% will need to be plug-in hybrids. That is a massive reduction on the number of gas-powered cars that will be allowed on the road.”  This unconstitutional power grab will be a disaster for American drivers and the auto industry. Draconian regulations like the Biden EV mandate aren’t working in California. CBS News knew this before they ran their recent propaganda segment. On Feb. 26‚ CBS Mornings documented the difficulties that drivers in California and large cities across the nation face charging their electric vehicles.  [See More: Matt Walsh on the Radical Environmentalism of the Biden Administration] Conservatives are under attack! Contact ABC News at 818-460-7477‚ CBS News at 212-975-3247 and NBC News at 212-664-6192 and demand they hold Biden and his cronies accountable for attempting to restrict fossil fuel production and Americans’ choices.

White House reporters like to portray themselves as the guardians of democracy who hold the powerful accountable‚ but if a Thursday Politico report by Eli Stokols‚ Lauren Egan‚ and Ben Johnson is true‚ they are also a collection of thieves who steal things from Air Force One. Theft is apparently so rampant aboard the presidential aircraft that the authors describe it as “shockingly common — a rite of passage where the thieves proudly discuss and display their stolen goods.” They report that the president of the White House Correspondents' Association‚ NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell‚ had to remind her colleagues that such behavior is not permitted and does not reflect well on the press corps. The sleuthing trio continues‚ “For years‚ scores of journalists — and others — have quietly stuffed everything from engraved whiskey tumblers to wine glasses to pretty much anything with the Air Force One insignia on it into their bag before stepping off the plane.” One anonymous reporter told Politico that “on my first flight‚ the person next to me was like‚ ‘You should take that glass.’ They were like: ‘Everyone does it.’” Several reporters also recalled that “one former White House correspondent for a major newspaper described them hosting a dinner party where all the food was served on gold-rimmed Air Force One plates‚ evidently taken bit by bit over the course of some time.” Additionally‚ “reporters recalled coming down the back stairs after returning to Joint Base Andrews in the evening with the sounds of clinking glassware or porcelain plates in their backpacks.” Back in February‚ the White House started to clamp down on the thieves‚ offering those who had “inadvertently wound up taking something off the plane by mistake” the chance to make “a quiet return.” One former official told Politico it is not “a massive amount of theft. It was just a petty‚ chronic grift.” Yet‚ Politico reports that only one pillowcase snatcher took them up on the offer.

Former UFC fighter Igor Severino apologized for a biting incident that got him fired from the fight promotion and claimed that he didn't remember the sequence of events leading up to it.Severino bit the bicep of fellow flyweight Andre Lima halfway through the second round of their three-round fight. The bite was widely publicized and even garnered a "Bite of the Night" bonus for Lima on behalf of UFC President Dana White. That bonus was doubled when it was revealed that Lima got a tattoo of the bite mark."One day‚ I was fighting in the best promotion in the world. I was making my dream come true. The next moments‚ I’m banned from the promotion‚" Severino told MMA Junkie.The fighter was fired the same night following the incident‚ which of course was an extreme juxtaposition to his opponent being celebrated and awarded afterward.Severino said he comes from "humble beginnings‚" working from a very young age to become a professional fighter. The 20-year-old Brazilian insisted that what viewers saw was not who he is as a person."I just feel very regretful. It makes me very emotional and sad about it‚" he explained. The fighter claimed that he has no recollection of the sequence leading up to the bite and said he was shocked to see the highlights of what had transpired. He thought an elbow he received may have triggered his behavior."I remember everything that was happening until I got hit with something really hard‚" Severino stated through a translator. "I watched the video later and I thought it was an elbow. From there‚ I was on autopilot. I don’t remember anything." The UFC is CUTTING Igor Severino after biting his opponent tonight at #UFCVegas89 \n\nper @KevinI — (@) Opponent and bite recipient Lima told Brazilian press that he didn't agree with the UFC's decision to cut Severino from the roster. He also stated that he would be willing to give Severino a rematch.The likelihood that the UFC reinstates a fighter who has been banned is very low‚ however.There exists a fairly lengthy list of fighters who have received lifetime bans. From shoving referees‚ to illegal gambling‚ to punching opponents after the fight‚ most if not all fighters who have received a permanent ban for one reason or another are not reinstated. In an interview with Brazilian MMA-journalist Laerte Viana‚ Andre "Mascote" Lima stated that he doesn't agree with the UFC to cut Igor Severino after the biting incident on Saturday. He says that he hopes Severino get's another chance and he is willing to do a rematch. — (@) "I did something wrong‚" Severino continued. "It’s right that I be punished. I got cut. I think that’s one of the worst things that could’ve happened. The commission withheld my purse‚ so I’m not even sure if I’ll get paid anything. I’m not sure what they’re even going to decide because this money isn’t even for me. It’s for my whole family that depends on me. Fighting is how I make ends meet‚ how I’m able to pay my rent. That’s how I’m able to pay for medicine. It’s how I’m able to take care of my sick family members‚ how I can support them to buy food‚ as well. That’s all that I know how to do. It’s all that I have to make a means to live."The fighter also noted that he received phone calls from family members about the incident‚ including one from his mother who claimed she had been receiving threats to her life. 50k \ud83d\udcb4 — (@) Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Recent plane problems and near-disasters have cast a pall over Boeing‚ one of just two major airplane manufacturers in the world. In fact‚ the company's reputation is so tarnished that even President Joe Biden poked fun at it.On Thursday‚ Biden went to Radio City Music Hall in Midtown Manhattan for a major fundraiser featuring former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and high-profile celebrities like Lizzo and actress Mindy Kaling. As expected‚ Biden flew into town on Air Force One‚ one of two 747-200B planes customized by Boeing to suit the security and pageantry needs of U.S. presidents.During the event‚ host Stephen Colbert took a shot at Boeing by asking Biden whether Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg had reinforced the bolts on the plane before Biden boarded for NYC‚ the New York Post reported.Biden‚ 81‚ then responded with a humorous crack of his own: "I don’t sit by the door."Perhaps realizing that his handlers and other members of the Democratic Party would likely not be happy that he had just publicly insulted one of the biggest‚ most powerful companies in the world‚ Biden then attempted to walk his words back. "I’m only kidding‚" he quickly added. "I shouldn’t joke about that."The snide quip from the sitting president of the United States comes after an Alaska Airlines flight from Oregon to California was forced to make an emergency landing after a door panel blew out mid-flight in January‚ as Blaze News previously reported. Though thankfully no one was injured‚ the incident did spark concerns about quality control and safety at Boeing‚ and Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci eventually admitted that there were "some loose bolts on many of our MAX 9s."The bolts were not Boeing's only problem. Earlier this month‚ another Alaska Airlines plane landed with a cracked inner windshield‚ and a whistleblower testifying against Boeing was found dead of a gunshot wound‚ perhaps by his own hand.These issues prompted CEO Dave Calhoun and other top Boeing executives to announce this week that they would leave the company at the end of the year. "The eyes of the world are on us‚" Calhoun's statement read in part‚ "and I know we will come through this moment a better company‚ building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Academic freedom is not just an academic question. When scholars find their freedom to pursue lines of inquiry and to discuss research in public trammeled — often‚ sadly‚ by their own colleagues — the damage can extend far beyond the ivory tower. Over the past decade‚ both of us have been the targets of “cancellation” by the academy for dissenting from a seemingly esoteric footnote to World War II. We argue‚ based on documentary evidence‚ legal structures‚ and economic logic‚ that most of the women who worked at Japanese military brothels were‚ in fact‚ prostitutes. Most (not all) of the scholars who tried to stop us from speaking out about the comfort women issue do not realize they are providing cover for Pyongyang. Journalists and professors in North America instead insist that the women were dragooned sex slaves. When Jason Morgan spoke out about the issue‚ his adviser made certain that he would not find a job. When Mark Ramseyer published an eight-page paper in an out-of-the-way scholarly journal on the topic‚ he found himself hit with a multi-year attack‚ which included death threats and stalking by a South Korean news crew. The attack was ginned up not by fringe groups‚ but by tenured professors at major universities. Amy Stanley at Northwestern‚ Alexis Dudden at the University of Connecticut‚ Jeannie Suk Gersen at Harvard Law‚ Andrew Gordon at Harvard‚ and Michael Chwe at UCLA were among the dozens of scholars who called for the journal to retract Ramseyer’s paper. Some of them demanded that he lose his teaching job‚ too. Had the cancellation ended with a groveling apology‚ as many cancellations do‚ we would not be writing this today. But we studied the comfort women issue more intently instead. Conscientious scholars in South Korea‚ such as Lew Seok-choon (formerly at Yonsei University)‚ Park Yu-ha (Sejong University)‚ and Rhee Younghoon (formerly at Seoul National University) did not back down when threatened with prison time for telling the truth about the comfort women. Neither could we. Ultimately‚ we discovered that the dispute in its current form stems not from World War II but from North Korea. A Japanese communist and ex-convict named Yoshida Seiji invented the tale in a 1983 putative memoir‚ and the newspaper of record in Japan‚ the Asahi‚ took the story to enormous international attention. Historians soon concluded that the tales were untrue‚ and Yoshida eventually admitted that he had made it all up. In 2014‚ the Asahi finally retracted all articles based on the Yoshida hoax. In the meantime‚ however‚ North Korea-aligned forces in the South had taken control of the “sex slave” narrative and played it for all it was worth for 30 years. What we thought was a footnote to history was a stratagem by Pyongyang to turn South Koreans against Japan and undermine any trilateral Japan-South Korea-United States attempt to deter the North. Some of the wildest comfort women “testimonies” were in fact concocted by North Korea. A 1996 U.N. report on the comfort women (which those who attack us cite as probative) incorporated one of the North Korean “testimonies” anyway‚ no questions asked. Until recently‚ South Korean legislator Yoon Mee-hyang headed an organization known as the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan. Yoon also controlled the “House of Sharing‚” a virtual prison camp where former comfort women — many of them impoverished — live in exchange for ceding control of their stories to Yoon. In 2023‚ the Seoul district court convicted Yoon of embezzling money donated for the comfort women into her personal accounts. But not just her accounts. Yoon also used the money to fund pro-North Korea organizations. Her husband served prison time for passing documents to a North Korean spy. The court also sentenced his sister to prison for her role in the case. His sister’s husband served prison time for his role in yet another North Korean spying case. The council itself had its roots in a secret meeting aboard a boat in Nagasaki harbor between a member of the Japanese Socialist Party and a South Korean church leader who hoped to begin collaborating with the North. They held their first symposium in Tokyo in 1991‚ with a prominent North Korean leader in attendance. They held their 1992 symposium in Pyongyang. The meetings grew into the Korean Council. The Korean Council elite includes leaders from what was the Unified Progressive Party. The Constitutional Court banned the party in 2014 after police caught party leaders plotting to assist a North Korean invasion. When a dozen women from North Korean elite families defected to the South in 2016‚ Yoon and her husband (the North Korean spy) met with them multiple times in a Korean Council house. They urged the women to return to the North. They paid the leader of the women cash from Korean Council funds. The council also used funds to try to block the South Korean government from installing the THAAD missile defense system. Repeatedly‚ Yoon and the Korean Council have sabotaged the Japanese government's attempts to settle the comfort women dispute. When Japan offered the self-identified comfort women compensation in 1995‚ the council bribed the women to reject the funds. When some women took the Japanese money anyway (Japan offered much more than the council)‚ the council published their names as prostitutes. And when Japan once again offered money in 2015‚ the council hid the process from the women and convinced the government to reject the settlement instead. North Korea‚ a next-door nuclear-armed regime headed by a mentally unstable sociopath‚ presents an existential threat to South Korea and Japan. So does China. Japan and South Korea desperately need to work together to block aggression from the North and from Beijing. North Korea and China want them so distracted by mutual hostility that they cannot coordinate their responses. In sabotaging rapprochement between South Korea and Japan‚ Yoon Mee-hyang promotes a key North Korean and Chinese goal. More than anyone else‚ Yoon has inflamed the ethnonationalism that drives anti-Japanese hostility in South Korea and blocks any reconciliation. In this‚ she has done exactly what the North Korean and Chinese regimes needed done. Our research illustrates the vital importance of academic freedom. Most (not all) of the scholars who tried to stop us from speaking out about the comfort women issue do not realize they are providing cover to Pyongyang. But that is precisely the point. We have something important to say‚ and academic freedom was key to our learning it. In time‚ we hope academic freedom may lead to the thwarting of North Korea’s designs. When we first started studying the comfort women issue‚ we did not know what lay behind the shouts from the academy of “revisionism” — even of misogyny‚ Holocaust denial‚ and “white supremacy.” Without this research‚ we would not have known of the role North Korea played in the comfort women controversy. We would not have known it‚ and neither would you. Editor’s note: This essay is adapted from “The Comfort Women Hoax: A Fake Memoir‚ North Korean Spies‚ and Hit Squads in the Academic Swamp‚” by Jason M. Morgan and J. Mark Ramseyer (Encounter Books).