16 January 2008 - Southern
Ocean Whale Sanctuary — Following a 10-day
search in Antarctic waters, the Greenpeace
ship Esperanza confronted
Japan’s whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean
Whale Sanctuary last week. After a high
speed chase over hundreds of miles the factory
ship Nisshin Maru was driven out of the
hunting grounds. Without this ship, the
rest of the fleet has been unable to hunt
whales for the last 5 days. The Esperanza
continues to follow the Nisshin Maru which
is now heading south again.
If they try to start
whaling, the Esperanza’s international crew
of activists will take non-violent direct
action to prevent the Japanese government’s
slaughter of nearly 1,000 whales, including
50 endangered fin whales.
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.
We will do nothing to
harm or endanger the Japanese vessels or
crew. We will, however, use all peaceful
means at our disposal to stop the killing
of any more whales.
Update, January 16th: No whales have been
killed in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary
for 6 days! The Esperanza continues to shadow
the Nisshin Maru as it heads south towards
the hunting grounds.
Update, January 14th:
The Nisshin Maru and the catcher boat Yusshin
Maru are currently outside the hunting grounds.
Without the factory ship whaling cannot
continue. The Esperanza continues to keep
the Nisshin Maru in sight.
Here is Sara, on board
the Ezsperanza, who will tell you more about
finding the whaling fleet:
Sanctuary?
The area in which the
Japanese fleet are hunting has been designated
as the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, designed
to help whale populations recover after
the devastating commercial whaling of the
last century. Many countries were responsible
for this collapse in whale populations.
Most have since realised the tragic consequences
of their actions and now accept, support
and promote whale conservation and a complete
end to commercial whaling.
Modern scientific research
does not require whales to die. In addition
to confronting the whaling fleet in the
Southern Ocean, we are proving that nobody
needs to fire exploding harpoons into whales
and kill them for science. Our Great Whale
Trail research programme, in collaboration
with scientists from the Cook Islands Whale
Research, Opération Cétacés
(New Caledonia) and the International Fund
for Animal Welfare, includes satellite tracking,
skin biopsy, and photo identification of
whales. The programme has already yielded
a vast amount of valuable information. But
not a single harpoon needed to be fired.
Scientific whaling is
an expensive hoax -- with most of the results
being stockpiled in commercial freezers
or ending up in dog food.
Karli Thomas, the expedition
leader on the Esperanza spoke to the crew
on of the Nisshin Maru on the radio saying:
Our vessel and crew
are here in the Southern Ocean to condemn
your hunt, which includes endangered species,
and to insist that you return to port immediately.
We represent millions
of people around the world who want to see
an end to whaling in the Southern Ocean
Whale Sanctuary.
We join with the majority
of people in Japan who do not support whaling
on the high seas. (...)
Your so-called scientific
whaling is a hoax. It has been dismissed
as useless by the International Whaling
Commission"
Japan's research whaling
benefits only a very few Japanese bureaucrats,
and has cost Japanese taxpayers billions
of yen in subsidies. It produces research
nobody needs, and whale meat very few want.
It deserves to be exposed in Japanese society
as a scandalous waste of money.
When the whaling fleet
left its home port of Shimonoseki in November,
the government of Japan confirmed the sole
purpose behind its so-called science programme
is to bring about a return to commercial
whaling.
“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.
“It is time for Prime Minister Fukuda to
put an end to Japan’s whaling scandal, and
to recall the fleet home to Japan.”
Humpbacks safe -- for
now
On December 22nd, the
Japanese government backed down in the face
of pressure from Greenpeace supporters,
whale advocates, and conservation-minded
governments, announcing that they would
not hunt humpbacks this season.
Rather than reducing
the number of whales being killed in the
Southern Ocean it looks like the Government
of Japan is going to kill a lot more. Plans
are emerging for the construction of a new
factory ship that will be even bigger than
the Nisshin Maru and be able to go on killing
thousands of whales over the decades to
come. While our activists will be between
the harpoons and the whales in the Southern
Ocean in order to save hundreds of whales
from being killed now, we are urging people
to stop even more being killed in the future
by writing to the Japanese Prime Minister.
Over 12,000 letters have already been sent.
We all need to act NOW to stop the hunt
forever and make sure that not a single
harpoon will be fired again in the Southern
Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
For the latest, up-to-the-minute
news, check out the Great Whale Trail expedition
blog and the live Esperanza Webcams.
