OUTRAGE OVER WHALING ... #2 <cont>

...More than a fortnight into a shortened season, few, if any, whales are believed to have been killed. For the activists, the tantalising prospect is rising that for the first time in decades of protest, whaling will be effectively shut down. ...

Japan believed to be quitting whaling season early
Andrew Darby
February 16, 2011 - 2:29PM

Japan's whaling fleet is believed to be quitting the Antarctic under heavy conservationist and diplomatic pressure, just halfway through its worst season.

The Japanese government has decided to cut short the season and the fleet is heading back to port, sources in Tokyo told the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

The sudden departure has raised hopes Japan may be moving to end its widely opposed, 23-year-old "scientific research" program, which has killed about 10,000 Antarctic whales.

Photo: AFP/Greenpeace

The Japanese government has cut short its controversial Antarctic whale hunt.

"Under pressure from all fronts, the Japanese whaling fleet is apparently withdrawing early this season from the internationally recognised sanctuary around Antarctica," said IFAW's global whales campaign director, Patrick Ramage.

"We hope this is a first sign of Japanese government decision makers recognising there is no future for whaling in the 21st century and that responsible whale watching, the only genuinely sustainable use of whales, is now the best way forward for a great nation like Japan," Mr Ramage said.

No immediate official confirmation was available from Japan. But the factory ship, Nisshin Maru, was today steaming towards Drake Passage, below South America, pursued by the Sea Shepherd group's vessel Bob Barker, having left its nominated whaling grounds 2000 nautical miles behind.

The Chilean government said it planned to use naval assets to monitor the approaching factory ship closely.

Chile has permanently banned whaling in its waters, and also forbids the transport of cetacean parts through them, but Nisshin Maru should be able to navigate Drake Passage without entering the Chilean exclusive economic zone.

The whereabouts of the fleet's three harpoon ships is unknown, but they have been unable to kill whales without the Nisshin Maru to process the the mammals.

A smaller whaling fleet came under sustained Sea Shepherd pressure from the delayed outset of its season this year, sharply reducing its capacity to catch a quota of up to 935 minke whales and 50 fins.

The activists located the fleet as soon as it reached the Antarctic, kept two of the three Japanese harpoon ships engaged for weeks, fouled the propellers of one, delayed a fleet refuelling operation and then sent Nisshin Maru on the run.

The whaling industry is also suffering at home in Japan, with revenue falling as whale meat sales plummet, and with key figures in the Fisheries Agency of Japan forced to apologise for running a black market in the meat.

Following the failure of International Whaling Commission peace talks, the main diplomatic game has shifted to Australia's International Court of Justice case against Japan, which is due to be laid out in full in May.

A joint statement by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key today reaffirmed their commitment to the case, and to the elimination of whaling in the Southern Ocean.

Latin American members of the International Whaling Commission this week issued another joint statement urging Japan to stop scientific whaling in Antarctic waters and to respect sanctuaries for the species.

Andrew Darby is the Hobart Correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Sea Shepherd 'winning war against whalers'
Updated 5 hours 16 minutes ago

Sea Shepherd is confident the fleet will only be able to catch under 10 per cent of its quota this season.

Environmental activist group Sea Shepherd says it is having its most successful season yet in its fight against Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean....<cont>

Japanese whaling fleet 'heading west again'
Updated 5 hours 13 minutes ago

Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson says Japan's whaling fleet has suddenly changed course despite claims the whale hunt has been suspended.

Yesterday, Japan's Fisheries Agency said the whaling program had been put on hold because of harassment by Sea Shepherd activists.

"We are now studying the situation, including the possibility of cutting the mission early," agency official Tatsuya Nakaoku said, confirming media reports, but stressing that "nothing has been decided at this point".

But Mr Watson, who is on board the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin in the Ross Sea, says it is unclear what the whaling fleet, led by the Nisshin Maru processing ship, is doing.

"The boats enter the Drake Passage to go into the Southern Atlantic Ocean," he said.

"This morning they suddenly turned around, did an about face, and now they are coming west again.

"We don't know if that means they are on a great circle route back to Japan or they are returning to the whaling grounds.

"The harpoon vessels remain in the Ross Sea and we intend to stay here until they leave.

"We don't know if this suspension is permanent. Two weeks or two days, we don't know.

"It could be a ploy but all indications are that yes they are going home but we don't know that for an absolute certainty," he said. ..... <cont>

End in sight for Japanese whaling program
* Rick Wallace and Joe Kelly
* From: The Australian
* February 18, 2011 12:00AM

CONFIDENCE is growing among conservation groups in Japan that the now-suspended Japanese whale hunt may be the last one in Antarctic waters as financial and diplomatic pressures take their toll.

Japan's best-known whale activist, Greenpeace executive-director Junichi Sato, told The Australian yesterday the industry was "like a sinking ship" and the annual Antarctic hunt could be shelved before next summer.

Meanwhile, Japan's main whaling vessel, which had appeared to be vacating the whaling grounds in the direction of Chile, turned back towards the Ross Sea yesterday. But the Nisshin Maru was thought to be plotting an alternate course home amid signs from Chile that it would enforce a ban on transporting whale parts in its waters.

Sea Shepherd's Alex Cornelissen, commander of the pursuing protest vessel the Bob Barker, said he doubted the fleet would resume whaling despite the U-turn.

"It indicates they might be heading back to Japan. They have dropped speed and I am pretty sure they are going to call it quits," he said.

Tatsuya Nakaoku, of Japan's Fisheries Agency, said the Nisshin Maru might have decided to avoid a confrontation with Chilean authorities, but the vessel had not been ordered home.

(Australian) Environment Minister Tony Burke said he was still waiting for confirmation from Japan that the hunt had ended for this season, but Australia would not drop its challenge against the scientific whaling program in the International Court of Justice until Antarctic whaling had been officially terminated.

"Our position remains that we will continue to pursue the action to try to bring whaling to an end altogether," he said.

Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt criticised the government for failing to seek an interim injunction from the court to stop the hunt.

Recently I saw some soundgrabs of Japanese people in a restaurant serving whale (for scientific purposes). A common line was "how would Australians feel if we said they couldn't eat kangaroo?"

I saw a show re: the people of a village in Nunivit. THye got a Minke whale and were making a community muktuk (I think muktuk is just blubber fried in blubber till crispy) This they ate with ketchup. Theyve done this for 12000 years (at least) in the North AMerican continent (without the ketchup).

Recent research has found blubber from whales and seals contains both omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D.[12] Without the vitamin D, for example, the Inuit and other natives of the Arctic would likely suffer from rickets. There is evidence blubber and other fats in the arctic diet also provide the calories needed to replace the lack of carbohydrates found in the diets of cultures in the rest of the world.

Toxicity: Recent studies suggest blubber contains naturally-occurring PCBs, carcinogens which damage the human nervous, immune and reproductive systems.[14][15] The source of PCB concentrations is unknown. Since toothed whales typically place high on the food chain, they likely consume large amounts of industrial pollutants (bioaccumulation). Even baleen whales, by merit of the huge amount of food they consume, are bound to have toxic chemicals stored in their bodies. Recent studies have found high levels of mercury in the blubber of seals of the Canadian arctic.

The Japanese have been really engaged in the whale sushi habit ofr only about 60 years thanks to The Allied Supreme Commander of the PAcific Theater.

Well done, Sea Shepherd!

This is very heartening news!

Don't heavy metals accumulate specifically in fat? Has anyone done a toxicology analysis on that blubber? Arctic waters are toxic dumps.

Japan calls on Australia to stop Sea Shepherd
By Michael Edwards and wires
Updated Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:37pm AEDT

Japanese crew aboard the Yashin Maru haul in a harpooned whale

Japan has told the ambassadors of Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands to take action against anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd, whose harassment cut short its Antarctic hunt this season.

On Friday Japan announced it was bringing home its harpoon ships a month early, citing a need to guarantee the safety of the whalers.

"It is extremely regrettable that the obstructionist activities by Sea Shepherd were not prevented," Japan's foreign minister Seiji Maehara said in remarks directed to the three countries that allow Sea Shepherd to fly their flag or use their ports.

Mr Maehara said the foreign ministry had invited in the three envoys and "conveyed a sense of regret and reiterated a strong request to take effective measures to avoid the recurrence of Sea Shepherd's obstructionist activities".

The US-based environmental group, which has pursued Japan's harpoon ships for months, operates Dutch- and Australian-registered ships and uses ports in anti-whaling nations Australia and New Zealand for its campaigns.

Japan's top government spokesman, chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano, called the actions by Sea Shepherd "extremely deplorable".

"We can't help but feel outrage because the lives of the crew were endangered," he said.

"We will work out definite measures to ensure we can continue research whaling without giving in to sabotage."

The Department of Foreign Affairs says Australia's Ambassador to Japan has met with the Japanese government.

A spokeswoman says the Federal Government shares Japan's concerns about unlawful behaviour by protesters, but it is not appropriate to comment on details of the meeting.

Earlier, Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson hailed Japan's decision and pledged to stop any future hunts.

"It's great news. We will, however, stay with the Japanese ships until they return north and make sure they're out of the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary," he said.

"Personally I don't trust them, but I will take their word on this and we will follow them out. We're just not going to leave them until we know for sure they're out of the Southern Ocean."...<cont>