14
April 2008 - Japan — After five months at
sea, the Nisshin Maru arrived in Japan today
having taken around half the number of whales
from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary
as planned, but still 551 whales too many.
The annual assault on
the whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary
is over for another year with a final tally
of 551 whales dying for the sake of fake
and discredited research.
Although the number
of whales taken was just over half the number
the whalers had hoped, it is still over
100 whales more than the whalers took just
three years ago.
The whale hunt was disrupted
for 15 days during the height of the southern
summer when our ship the Esperanza chased
the Nisshin Maru across 4,300 miles of the
whale sanctuary, shutting down the whole
whaling operation for the entirety of the
epic chase.
As well as minke whales,
the whalers also intending to take endangered
fin and humpback whales too. They decided
to cancel the humpback hunt this year after
fierce protests around the world but the
fin whales were still in the crosshairs
of the whalers.
In recent years, the
Japanese Fisheries Agency has been telling
the world that there had been a 'rapid increase'
in the number of fin whales in the southern
ocean and this justified the killing of
50 of the world's second largest whale.
Despite spending 3 months
of the year scouring the Southern Ocean
Whale Sanctuary, the 6 ships of the whaling
fleet didn't see a single one of the 'plentiful'
fin whales.
The battle to defend
the whales now switches to Santiago in Chile
where the next meeting of the International
Whaling Commission will be held. Japan will
again try to overturn decades of whale conservation
and enforce a return to the destructive
days of commercial whaling in the southern
ocean.
In a whale sanctuary,
the only acceptable number of whales to
be killed is zero. If the Japanese are serious
about whale research – rather than a commercial
hunt disguised as research – they should
return to the Southern Ocean next year with
cameras, not harpoons.
We think Canon cameras,
the Japanese company famous for its work
to promote wildlife and help endangered
species – should be the first ones to endorse
that concept. Please write to their CEO,
Fujio Mitarai, and ask that he join the
efforts to make this whaling season the
last.
