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Greenpeace activists clash with Japanese whaling fleet in Southern
Ocean
by Wikinews Australia 4:13pm Thu Dec 22 '05 a


Environmental activist group Greenpeace have attempted to disrupt
Japan's Southern Ocean scientific whaling fleet. After searching for
the whaling fleet for nearly a month, the Greenpeace ships, MY
Esperanza and MY Arctic Sunrise, are floating alongside the Japanese
mothership in Australia's Antarctic territorial waters, directly south
of Tasmania.


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http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Greenpea...Southern_Ocean

December 22, 2005

Environmental activist group Greenpeace have attempted to disrupt
Japan's Southern Ocean scientific whaling fleet. After searching for
the whaling fleet for nearly a month, the Greenpeace ships, MY
Esperanza and MY Arctic Sunrise, are floating alongside the Japanese
mothership in Australia's Antarctic territorial waters, directly south
of Tasmania.

The Japanese whaling fleet has an expected catch of over 900 minke
whales â?? more than double its previous catch. The fleet - owned by
Kyodo Senpaku and part-owned by Nissui, Japan's second-largest marine
products firm - is also targeting endangered fin whales for what they
claim is a scientific program. Fin whales are the second largest
creatures on earth.

Greenpeace say they have asked the whalers to stop whaling immediately
and return to Japan, but have recieved no response from the vessels. In
inflatables carrying banners which read "defend the whales" and "stop
the whaling," crew from the two ships declared their intention to stop
the hunt.

Leader of the Greenpeace expedition, Shane Rattenbury said their eight
small boats have begun to "interfere" with the whaling process.

"We positioned our two ships to the stern of the Japanese mother ship
in order to prevent the whale being transferred on to the ship and we
were successful in stopping that process for about 45-minutes," said Mr
Rattenbury, describing a capture boat ramming the Greenpeace ship in an
attempt to push it clear.

He said the Japanese boat fought back with water cannons and one of
several Greenpeace inflatables capsized in the wash. All crew were
retrieved without injury.

"We're going to do everything we can over the coming weeks to interfere
with the whaling process, and stop the whales being killed," he said,
"our small boats will be putting themselves between the harthingy and
the whale.

In a radio call to the whaling vessels, from the bridge of the Arctic
Sunrise, Yuko Hirono, of Greenpeace Japan called upon the whalers to
stop killing whales "and leave the internationally recognised Southern
Ocean Whale Sanctuary." Japan's scientific whaling has been the subject
of repeated criticism by the International Whaling Commission.

The Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research, claim the amount of
scientific data gathered by Japan's research program (JARPAII) is
extensive and that Japan's whale research programs are conducted in
accordance with the International Convention for the Regulation of
Whaling. The Institute of Cetacean Research say their research does not
involve illegal whaling.

Greenpeace say over the next 2 years 40 more fin whales will be added
to the annual kill, along with 50 humpback whales.

"This whale hunt is unnecessary, unjustified, and unwanted," said
Rattenbury. "Once the whales have been measured and weighed by the
'scientists' the butchers get to work and the whales are cut up and
boxed for market. This is all about money and not science."

The area in which the Japanese fleet is hunting has been designated as
the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary, in an effort to allow whale populations
to recover after stocks were depleted during the commercial whaling of
the last century.

Seventy crew and campaigners from 19 countries are on board the two
Greenpeace vessels, including the UK, Netherlands, Canada, Australia,
Ghana, Russia, Norway, Denmark, USA, France, Italy, Japan, Ireland,
India, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Austria and Argentina.

Japan's whaling program is expected to kill nearly one thousand whales
this season.

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