Greenpeace Confronts Japanese Whalers in Antarctic Sanctuary

Greenpeace Confronts Japanese Whalers in Antarctic Sanctuary



January 2008  - The Greenpeace ship Esperanza 
today confronted Japan's whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean Whale 
Sanctuary. 
The whaling fleet sailed away from the Esperanza, which is now in pursuit. 
While the fleet is on the run, the whalers are unable to hunt, Greenpeace 
said. The Japanese government has declared a self-imposed quota of up to 
935 minke whales, and 50 endangered fin whales for this season's 
"research" whaling. 
In a statement radioed to the whaling fleet in Japanese and English, 
Greenpeace Japan whales campaigner Sakyo Noda said, "Our vessel and crew 
are here in the Southern Ocean to condemn your hunt, which includes 
endangered species, and to insist that you leave the Southern Ocean Whale 
Sanctuary, and return to port immediately." 

"Your so-called scientific whaling is a hoax, and has been dismissed as 
useless by the International Whaling Commission. Modern scientific 
research on whales does not require killing them," Noda said. 
If the Japanese try to start whaling, the Esperanza's international crew 
will take non-violent direct action to prevent the killing. 
Activists will drive inflatable boats between the whaler's harpoons and 
the whales while using high-powered water pumps to create a curtain of icy 
water, obscuring the harpooner's view, Greenpeace said. 
"We will never do anything to endanger the Japanese vessels or crew. We 
will, however, use all peaceful means at our disposal to stop the killing 
of any more whales," the organization said today. 
This is Greenpeace's ninth expedition to the Southern Ocean to defend the 
whales, and the second in the last 12 months. 
The International Whaling Commission, IWC, imposed a moratorium on 
commercial whaling in 1986 to give the whales a chance to recover after 
decades of whaling brought many species close to extinction and depleted 
other whale species. That moratorium is still in effect, but the IWC 
permits any member nation to issue permits to kill whales for research 
purposes. 
"The Japanese people clearly do not support the whaling that is being 
carried out in their name, and with their tax money,” said Junichi Sato, 
whales project leader for Greenpeace Japan, referring to a June 2006 
public opinion poll conducted by the Nippon Research Centre. 
"It is time for Prime Minister Fukuda to put an end to Japan's whaling 
scandal, and to recall the fleet home to Japan," said Sato. 

"When the whaling fleet left its home port of Shimonoseki in November," 
Greenpeace said, "the government of Japan confirmed the sole purpose 
behind its so-called science program is to bring about a return to 
commercial whaling." 
In a statement Monday, Keiichi Nakajima, president of the Japan Whaling 
Association, left no doubt that a return to commercial whaling is Japan's 
goal. 
"The fact is that the ICRW [International Convention for the Regulation of 
Whaling] is about properly managing the whaling industry by regulating 
catch quotas at levels so that whale stocks will not be diminished. The 
Convention is not about protecting all whales irrespective of their 
abundance," Nakajima said. 
Late last year, Japan agreed to suspend plans to kill 50 humpback whales 
at the request of IWC Chairman Bill Hogarth of the United States, but only 
on the condition that the IWC return to regulating whaling instead of 
prohibiting it. 
Nakajima said Hogarth is attempting "to resolve the dysfunctional nature 
of the organization and return it to its proper functioning as a resource 
management organization." 
Since the moratorium took effect, annual IWC meetings have devolved into a 
series of battles between pro-whaling nations such as Japan, Norway and 
Iceland and their allies, mostly small island states - and 
pro-conservation nations such as Australia, New Zealand, South American 
and European nations and the United States. 
To date, the conservation nations have had the clout to prevent the 
resumption of commercial whaling. 
The 60th annual IWC meeting will be held in Santiago, Chile from June 23 
to 27, 2008. 

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