Save the whales

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Have your say :
http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=2251&&edition=2&ttl=20060620065638

[veggiewoman]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/japan/story/0,,1801433,00.html

Japan welcomes narrow vote against whaling ban

Justin McCurry in Tokyo
Tuesday June 20, 2006
The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/)


Japan was jubilant yesterday after the International Whaling Commission voted to oppose the 1986 ban on commercial whaling, a move that conservationists fear could lead to the resumption of large-scale hunting and bring whale populations to the brink of extinction.
Though Japan and other pro-whaling countries fell well short of the 75% of votes they needed to overturn the IWC moratorium, a foreign ministry spokesman in Tokyo hailed the passage of a resolution critical of the ban as "a significant step forward".

We rejoice at the outcome because we have long been hoping that the IWC will again become a talking shop," he said. "Now it isn't even a talking shop - it's just a forum for exchanging emotions."
The resolution, which passed by 33 votes to 32, says the moratorium is no longer necessary and blames whales for depleting fish stocks. Its adoption at the meeting on the Caribbean island of St Kitts marks a shift in the balance of power at the commission and a victory for Japan after it narrowly lost three crucial votes, including a proposal to allow it to resume coastal whaling, on Friday and Saturday.
Delegates from Caribbean and African countries said they had voted against the ban to nudge the IWC towards taking up its original mandate of managing whale hunts rather than banning them. "We're dealing with an ecosystem where whales are on top of the food chain," said Daven Joseph, a delegate from St Kitts.
But Chris Carter, New Zealand's environment minister, said he was "surprised and disappointed" that six Pacific islands had voted with Japan, after some had said they would abstain. "I was told by Pacific leaders that they would never agree to the resumption of commercial whaling, but that's essentially what their delegates did," he said.
Japan's allies in Sunday's vote included several smaller countries that have received aid packages from Tokyo. Antigua, Dominica, Grenada and three other countries which last year received at least $300m (£162m) in Japanese aid voted against the ban, although Panama, which received similar support, voted in favour. The Pacific islands of Tuvalu, Nauru and Kiribati, the recipients of generous aid, also sided with the pro-whaling lobby.
But Japan denies claims that it has bought a majority on the IWC. "Many people accuse Japan of chequebook diplomacy, but the Pacific islands have long been in the heart and mind of Japan as allies for UN reform and a whole range of other issues," the spokesman said. "The agenda for the Japanese government towards the Pacific islands has a scope far wider than just the whaling issue."
Junichi Sato, the campaign director at Greenpeace Japan, cautioned against attaching too much importance to the St Kitts declaration. "It's a very sad day for whales, but we will take our message worldwide and bring the IWC back to being a conservation organisation," he said. "This vote wasn't as controversial as the others so it was easier for [smaller countries] to vote that way. Japan is by no means guaranteed a majority over the next two days."
The IWC is also expected to debate a motion on the role of NGOs, which Greenpeace and others fear could mean an end to their observer status. Japan's support for a return to commercial whaling, meanwhile, threatens to sour its otherwise close ties to countries such as the US and Britain. "I can only ask them to put things into perspective and not come to the conclusion that Japan is an evil nation," the spokesman said.

[veggiewoman]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5097070.stm


Anti-whalers rally after key vote
Last Updated: Tuesday, 20 June 2006, 01:09 GMT 02:09 UK http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/dot_629.gif
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Anti-whalers rally after key vote

By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website, St Kitts
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/999999.gif


http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41787000/jpg/_41787156_japanese_react_203ap.jpg Japan said it did not want to divide the organisation

European and South American governments plan to intensify efforts to prevent a return to commercial whaling.
On Sunday, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) passed a declaration calling for the eventual lifting of the 20-year global moratorium.
European and South American delegates told BBC News they now hope to recruit more anti-whaling countries to the organisation.
Japan is planning a meeting early next year to drive its campaign forward.
The country will host a three-day summit, probably in January, open to nations which support its aim of "normalising" the IWC - by which it means returning the 60-year-old organisation to its original purpose of regulating commercial whaling.
"We are not trying to exclude, or separate, or divide this organisation," said Joji Morishita, Japan's deputy whaling commissioner.
But in a clear statement of intent to vocal anti-whaling nations such as Australia and the UK, he warned: "We will not welcome the repetition of the polarisation of the IWC in this meeting - that will be very clearly stated and underlined."
Negotiations
Following Sunday's approval of the St Kitts Declaration, as the resolution is called, the onus is now on anti-whaling countries to intensify efforts aimed at ensuring Japan does not achieve the three-quarters majority of IWC members which it needs to overturn the global moratorium.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41787000/jpg/_41787160_ireland_ap203.jpg The motion was met with dismay among those opposed to whaling

Such a powerful coalition remains a long way off, as demonstrated by the fact that Sunday's resolution was passed by the narrowest margin possible, a single vote.
Conservation groups have been urging Britain, Australia, the US and their allies to recruit more countries to their cause, either by lobbying pro-whaling IWC members to switch sides or by persuading more conservation-minded nations to join up.
Several groups identify the European Union as a natural recruitment ground.
Danish disappointment
Delegates from three EU nations, declining to be identified publicly, told BBC News they were already talking to the Union's newest members.
"We have 14 of the 15 pre-enlargement countries in [the IWC] already, and only one of them supports whaling," said one delegate.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifhttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41772000/jpg/_41772782_humpback203_ap.jpg
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/inline_dashed_line.gif

Put your questions to IWC scientist Dr Greg Donovan (http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=2251&edition=2)
Japan gains key whaling victory (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5093350.stm)

"We have three of the [10] new members and we're talking to the rest," he said.
His reference to "only one" nation which supports whaling was a scarcely veiled criticism of Denmark, whose vote in favour of the St Kitts Declaration proved crucial.
In fact, Denmark adopts pro- and anti-whaling positions on different motions, and is in the position of representing both Denmark itself, and Greenland and the Faroe Islands where whaling is supported.
Some delegates from other European countries professed themselves amazed by the Danish position on such a key issue, and may ask ministers to "have a word" with their counterparts in Copenhagen.
Conservation group WWF labelled Sunday "Denmark's day of whaling shame".
Southern accent
There is likely to be a new recruitment drive in Latin America as well, according to Brazil's commissioner Maria Theresa Pessoa.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifhttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41772000/gif/_41772984_203x152.gif
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/inline_dashed_line.gif

Guide to whale species (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456973/html/nn1page1.stm)

"We have been doing it already, together with Argentina," she told BBC News.
"We met in Buenos Aires last October with a number of Latin American countries that are not members of the IWC but might have an interest in joining or re-joining; and we are talking with these countries, and hoping that we will gather the necessary conditions for them to become part of the IWC and attach themselves to our thesis.
"Eventually, we will [achieve a majority]. I don't think that the resumption of commercial whaling is acceptable for world opinion in the 21st Century."
Brazil sees the development of ecotourism as particularly valuable for Latin American countries.
Flushed by its victory on Sunday, Japan decided not to seek censure of Greenpeace over what it calls "interference in scientific research".
This refers to the continued activities of the environmental group against Japan's scientific whaling in the Antarctic, which culminated earlier this year in a collision between the Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise and the whalers' factory ship Nisshin Maru. Greenpeace intends to be back in Antarctic waters during the 2006/7 whaling season, which will see Japan add humpback whales to the quotas of minke and fin whales which it currently hunts under the name of science. Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk (Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk)

[veggiewoman]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5100936.stm


Last Updated: Wednesday, 21 June 2006, 04:27 GMT 05:27 UK http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/dot_629.gif
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Compromise talk after whaling win

By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website, St Kitts
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/999999.gif


http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41772000/jpg/_41772782_humpback203_ap.jpg The IWC endorsed an eventual return to commercial whaling

The International Whaling Commission's annual meeting has ended with talk of compromise, despite a key victory for pro-whaling nations.
Japan says some anti-whaling nations are softening their stance.
And the anti-whaling US is talking of working with whaling nations to make the practice more sustainable.
But environmental groups are firmly against any compromise and are urging anti-whaling countries to stand firm against a return to commercial hunting.
Some are planning new campaigns to increase public awareness.
'Little achieved'
Harking back to the "save the whales" campaigns of the past which ushered in the current global ban on commercial hunting, the new mantra appears to be "save the whales - again".
There is general disappointment in the environmental community that this meeting has seen anti-whaling countries on the defensive.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41791000/jpg/_41791700_whaletails_203ap.jpg Environmentalists are urging anti-whaling nations to stand firm

"Regardless of the rhetoric and posturing, very little has been achieved for either whales or people this week," said Sue Lieberman, director of the global species programme at WWF.
"Nearly 2,000 whales have been killed by Japan, Norway and Iceland since last year's meeting - where is conservation?"
Mike Townsley of Greenpeace, who found himself arrested along with nine other activists while attempting to hold a demonstration on the beach outside the IWC conference hotel, added: "We've got to remember that although nothing really bad happened, nothing good happened either.
"This year in December, the Southern Ocean sanctuary will be breached again by the Japanese so-called scientific whaling fleet."
Despite comments by Japan that it will seek to find ways of protecting its ships against Greenpeace's operations, the environmental group says it will be back in the Southern Ocean next season.
Moving together?
Although environmental groups remain almost entirely united against a return to commercial whaling, there were signs emerging that some nations are prepared to work together towards a compromise.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41787000/jpg/_41787156_japanese_react_203ap.jpg Japan's negotiator says there is willingness to discuss compromise

"I think we are sensing a slight change of attitude among [anti-whaling] member countries of the IWC," said Joji Morishita, deputy whaling commissioner for Japan.
The country gained an important symbolic victory on Sunday with the adoption by just one vote of the St Kitts Declaration, a resolution endorsing an eventual return to commercial whaling.
"Because the sustainable use side had the St Kitts Declaration adopted, there is more willingness to talk about the compromise or middle ground," Mr Morishita told the BBC news website. "I would definitely like to encourage that willingness for next year's meeting in Anchorage."
If Japan is willing to talk, so is the United States.
Its whaling commissioner William Hogarth said that although the US remains opposed to commercial whaling, it is prepared to work with pro-whaling nations to ensure that if the ban is eventually lifted, hunting would be conducted along sustainable lines.
The current situation, he indicated, cannot be allowed to endure.
"The bottom line is that the number of whales taken is increasing; it increased by 1,000 between 2005 and 2006," he told reporters.
"And so the goal should be to put a process in place that will protect the whales and make sure that any removal will not impede their recovery or cause a return to the position they were in ."
[B]Business as usual
What appears certain is that the three countries which currently catch whales will continue for the foreseeable future, unmoved by the protestations of environmental groups.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifhttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41772000/gif/_41772984_203x152.gif
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/inline_dashed_line.gif

Guide to whale species (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456973/html/nn1page1.stm)
Activists detained (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5100578.stm)

Norway lodged an objection against the moratorium at its inception, and is allowed to catch minke whales commercially.
"Norway's intention is to continue to develop commercial whaling," commented Rune Frovik, secretary of the High North Alliance, which promotes the interests of whalers and fishermen in the north of Norway.
"It will probably increase the quota in the coming years, and perhaps other species will be added," he told the BBC News website.
"But that depends on the scientific work that's done and also on the market conditions - we need access to the Japanese market, and that's what we think is paramount."
Japan and Iceland hunt under an article in the whaling convention allowing catches for scientific research.
Indigenous groups, principally around the Arctic, take smaller numbers for local consumption. Quotas for these indigenous groups are due for review at next year's IWC meeting in Anchorage, when the US will take its turn to chair the Commission. By then the anti-whaling bloc will probably by stronger, boosted by the extra number of countries which European delegates hope to bring onto the IWC now that the whalers have had their victory.

[veggiewoman]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5100936.stm


Last Updated: Wednesday, 21 June 2006, 04:27 GMT 05:27 UK http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/dot_629.gif
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Compromise talk after whaling win

By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website, St Kitts
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/999999.gif


http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41772000/jpg/_41772782_humpback203_ap.jpg The IWC endorsed an eventual return to commercial whaling

The International Whaling Commission's annual meeting has ended with talk of compromise, despite a key victory for pro-whaling nations.
Japan says some anti-whaling nations are softening their stance.
And the anti-whaling US is talking of working with whaling nations to make the practice more sustainable.
But environmental groups are firmly against any compromise and are urging anti-whaling countries to stand firm against a return to commercial hunting.
Some are planning new campaigns to increase public awareness.
'Little achieved'
Harking back to the "save the whales" campaigns of the past which ushered in the current global ban on commercial hunting, the new mantra appears to be "save the whales - again".
There is general disappointment in the environmental community that this meeting has seen anti-whaling countries on the defensive.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41791000/jpg/_41791700_whaletails_203ap.jpg Environmentalists are urging anti-whaling nations to stand firm

"Regardless of the rhetoric and posturing, very little has been achieved for either whales or people this week," said Sue Lieberman, director of the global species programme at WWF.
"Nearly 2,000 whales have been killed by Japan, Norway and Iceland since last year's meeting - where is conservation?"
Mike Townsley of Greenpeace, who found himself arrested along with nine other activists while attempting to hold a demonstration on the beach outside the IWC conference hotel, added: "We've got to remember that although nothing really bad happened, nothing good happened either.
"This year in December, the Southern Ocean sanctuary will be breached again by the Japanese so-called scientific whaling fleet."
Despite comments by Japan that it will seek to find ways of protecting its ships against Greenpeace's operations, the environmental group says it will be back in the Southern Ocean next season.
Moving together?
Although environmental groups remain almost entirely united against a return to commercial whaling, there were signs emerging that some nations are prepared to work together towards a compromise.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41787000/jpg/_41787156_japanese_react_203ap.jpg Japan's negotiator says there is willingness to discuss compromise

"I think we are sensing a slight change of attitude among [anti-whaling] member countries of the IWC," said Joji Morishita, deputy whaling commissioner for Japan.
The country gained an important symbolic victory on Sunday with the adoption by just one vote of the St Kitts Declaration, a resolution endorsing an eventual return to commercial whaling.
"Because the sustainable use side had the St Kitts Declaration adopted, there is more willingness to talk about the compromise or middle ground," Mr Morishita told the BBC news website. "I would definitely like to encourage that willingness for next year's meeting in Anchorage."
If Japan is willing to talk, so is the United States.
Its whaling commissioner William Hogarth said that although the US remains opposed to commercial whaling, it is prepared to work with pro-whaling nations to ensure that if the ban is eventually lifted, hunting would be conducted along sustainable lines.
The current situation, he indicated, cannot be allowed to endure.
"The bottom line is that the number of whales taken is increasing; it increased by 1,000 between 2005 and 2006," he told reporters.
"And so the goal should be to put a process in place that will protect the whales and make sure that any removal will not impede their recovery or cause a return to the position they were in ."
[B]Business as usual
What appears certain is that the three countries which currently catch whales will continue for the foreseeable future, unmoved by the protestations of environmental groups.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifhttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41772000/gif/_41772984_203x152.gif
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/inline_dashed_line.gif

Guide to whale species (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456973/html/nn1page1.stm)
Activists detained (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5100578.stm)

Norway lodged an objection against the moratorium at its inception, and is allowed to catch minke whales commercially.
"Norway's intention is to continue to develop commercial whaling," commented Rune Frovik, secretary of the High North Alliance, which promotes the interests of whalers and fishermen in the north of Norway.
"It will probably increase the quota in the coming years, and perhaps other species will be added," he told the BBC News website.
"But that depends on the scientific work that's done and also on the market conditions - we need access to the Japanese market, and that's what we think is paramount."
Japan and Iceland hunt under an article in the whaling convention allowing catches for scientific research.
Indigenous groups, principally around the Arctic, take smaller numbers for local consumption. Quotas for these indigenous groups are due for review at next year's IWC meeting in Anchorage, when the US will take its turn to chair the Commission. By then the anti-whaling bloc will probably by stronger, boosted by the extra number of countries which European delegates hope to bring onto the IWC now that the whalers have had their victory.

[veggiewoman]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5100936.stm


Last Updated: Wednesday, 21 June 2006, 04:27 GMT 05:27 UK http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/dot_629.gif
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Compromise talk after whaling win

By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website, St Kitts
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/999999.gif


http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41772000/jpg/_41772782_humpback203_ap.jpg The IWC endorsed an eventual return to commercial whaling

The International Whaling Commission's annual meeting has ended with talk of compromise, despite a key victory for pro-whaling nations.
Japan says some anti-whaling nations are softening their stance.
And the anti-whaling US is talking of working with whaling nations to make the practice more sustainable.
But environmental groups are firmly against any compromise and are urging anti-whaling countries to stand firm against a return to commercial hunting.
Some are planning new campaigns to increase public awareness.
'Little achieved'
Harking back to the "save the whales" campaigns of the past which ushered in the current global ban on commercial hunting, the new mantra appears to be "save the whales - again".
There is general disappointment in the environmental community that this meeting has seen anti-whaling countries on the defensive.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41791000/jpg/_41791700_whaletails_203ap.jpg Environmentalists are urging anti-whaling nations to stand firm

"Regardless of the rhetoric and posturing, very little has been achieved for either whales or people this week," said Sue Lieberman, director of the global species programme at WWF.
"Nearly 2,000 whales have been killed by Japan, Norway and Iceland since last year's meeting - where is conservation?"
Mike Townsley of Greenpeace, who found himself arrested along with nine other activists while attempting to hold a demonstration on the beach outside the IWC conference hotel, added: "We've got to remember that although nothing really bad happened, nothing good happened either.
"This year in December, the Southern Ocean sanctuary will be breached again by the Japanese so-called scientific whaling fleet."
Despite comments by Japan that it will seek to find ways of protecting its ships against Greenpeace's operations, the environmental group says it will be back in the Southern Ocean next season.
Moving together?
Although environmental groups remain almost entirely united against a return to commercial whaling, there were signs emerging that some nations are prepared to work together towards a compromise.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41787000/jpg/_41787156_japanese_react_203ap.jpg Japan's negotiator says there is willingness to discuss compromise

"I think we are sensing a slight change of attitude among [anti-whaling] member countries of the IWC," said Joji Morishita, deputy whaling commissioner for Japan.
The country gained an important symbolic victory on Sunday with the adoption by just one vote of the St Kitts Declaration, a resolution endorsing an eventual return to commercial whaling.
"Because the sustainable use side had the St Kitts Declaration adopted, there is more willingness to talk about the compromise or middle ground," Mr Morishita told the BBC news website. "I would definitely like to encourage that willingness for next year's meeting in Anchorage."
If Japan is willing to talk, so is the United States.
Its whaling commissioner William Hogarth said that although the US remains opposed to commercial whaling, it is prepared to work with pro-whaling nations to ensure that if the ban is eventually lifted, hunting would be conducted along sustainable lines.
The current situation, he indicated, cannot be allowed to endure.
"The bottom line is that the number of whales taken is increasing; it increased by 1,000 between 2005 and 2006," he told reporters.
"And so the goal should be to put a process in place that will protect the whales and make sure that any removal will not impede their recovery or cause a return to the position they were in ."
[B]Business as usual
What appears certain is that the three countries which currently catch whales will continue for the foreseeable future, unmoved by the protestations of environmental groups.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifhttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41772000/gif/_41772984_203x152.gif
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/inline_dashed_line.gif

Guide to whale species (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456973/html/nn1page1.stm)
Activists detained (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5100578.stm)

Norway lodged an objection against the moratorium at its inception, and is allowed to catch minke whales commercially.
"Norway's intention is to continue to develop commercial whaling," commented Rune Frovik, secretary of the High North Alliance, which promotes the interests of whalers and fishermen in the north of Norway.
"It will probably increase the quota in the coming years, and perhaps other species will be added," he told the BBC News website.
"But that depends on the scientific work that's done and also on the market conditions - we need access to the Japanese market, and that's what we think is paramount."
Japan and Iceland hunt under an article in the whaling convention allowing catches for scientific research.
Indigenous groups, principally around the Arctic, take smaller numbers for local consumption. Quotas for these indigenous groups are due for review at next year's IWC meeting in Anchorage, when the US will take its turn to chair the Commission. By then the anti-whaling bloc will probably by stronger, boosted by the extra number of countries which European delegates hope to bring onto the IWC now that the whalers have had their victory.

[veggiewoman]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5100578.stm


Last Updated: Tuesday, 20 June 2006, 20:51 GMT 21:51 UK http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/dot_629.gif
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Anti-whaling activists detained

By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website, St Kitts
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/999999.gif


http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41791000/jpg/_41791904_police.jpg Greenpeace found the St Kitts police in swift attendance

Ten Greenpeace activists have been detained while attempting to stage a protest at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) annual meeting.
They planned to build a "whale graveyard" in protest at Japan's hunting in Antarctic waters, which it says is for scientific research.
Greenpeace says anti-whaling countries have been too quiet on the issue.
Earlier some anti-whaling nations said they were stepping up efforts to stop a return to commercial whaling.
Delegates from Brazil and three European Union countries told the BBC they would intensify their campaign to recruit new countries onto the IWC, a response to the Commission's approval on Sunday of a declaration calling for the eventual lifting of the 20-year global moratorium.
Beach drama
Protest and activism were largely absent during the first four days of this meeting, but as the final day opened, Greenpeace sprang into action.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41791000/jpg/_41791704_greenpeace_boat_203ap.jpg The activists arrived by inflatable boat

The ship Arctic Sunrise, which spent the 2005/6 Antarctic whaling season harassing Japanese vessels in the Southern Ocean, appeared off the coast outside the conference hotel.
The first of its inflatable craft came ashore carrying five activists and a pile of cardboard placards in the shape of whales' tails, which they planned to erect into a symbolic whales' graveyard.
"We have 1,000 whale tails that represent all of the whales that are going to be slaughtered in the Southern Ocean this year by the Japanese scientific fleet," said Greenpeace spokesman Mike Townsley.
"Last season we saw the whale meat boxed and chopped on the Nisshin Maru, the so-called research vessel. This is whale meat for market, this is not science."
Funding request
Police arrived within minutes, some carrying guns, and detained the five plus another five activists who had arrived from the conference centre.
Police indicated that nine of the 10 might be charged on immigration offences, while Mr Townsley was detained for obstruction.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifhttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41772000/jpg/_41772782_humpback203_ap.jpg
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Guide to whale species (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456973/html/nn1page1.stm)

While this drama was played out on the beach, in the conference chamber itself delegates were debating a resolution from the host government of St Kitts and Nevis requesting additional funds of $742,000 (£386,000) from the IWC Secretariat for hosting the meeting.
It was a controversial request because the host government is supposed to bear most of the cost - and with delegates split 30-30, the request fell.
St Kitts and Nevis said that $250,000 (£136,000) of its costs were allocated for security.
'Too defensive'
Greenpeace says that anti-whaling countries have been too quiet here.
Certainly, they have refrained from launching motions critical of Japan's scientific whaling, which will next year expand to include humpbacks.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41787000/jpg/_41787156_japanese_react_203ap.jpg The pro-whaling lobby won by one vote

The species is a favourite of whale-watchers and is categorised as "vulnerable" under the internationally recognised Red List of Threatened Species.
The anti-whaling countries have been concentrating instead on stalling Japanese progress towards an eventual return to commercial whaling.
This moved a step closer to reality during the meeting, with the passing of the St Kitts Declaration which calls for the IWC to be "normalised" - code for a return to its original purpose of regulating commercial hunting.
European and South American delegates told BBC News they now planned to recruit more anti-whaling countries into the organisation.
Membership drive
Delegates from three EU nations, declining to be identified publicly, told BBC News they were already talking to the Union's newest members.
"We have 14 of the 15 pre-enlargement countries in [the IWC] already, and only one of them supports whaling," said one delegate.
"We have three of the [10] new members and we're talking to the rest," he said.
There is likely to be a new recruitment drive in Latin America as well, according to Brazil's commissioner Maria Theresa Pessoa.
"We have been doing it already, together with Argentina," she told BBC News.
"We met in Buenos Aires last October with a number of Latin American countries that are not members of the IWC but might have an interest in joining or re-joining; and we are talking with these countries, and hoping that we will gather the necessary conditions for them to become part of the IWC and attach themselves to our thesis. "Eventually, we will [achieve a majority]. I don't think that the resumption of commercial whaling is acceptable for world opinion in the 21st Century." Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk (Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk)

[veggiewoman]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5101478.stm
Last Updated: Wednesday, 21 June 2006, 11:08 GMT 12:08 UK http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/dot_629.gif
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/email.gif E-mail this to a friend (http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/email/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5101478.stm)http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/print.gif Printable version (http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5101478.stm)
Can the whales 'be saved' - again?

Analysis
By Richard Black
Environment Correspondent, BBC News website, St Kitts
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http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41793000/jpg/_41793498_humpback_spl_203.jpg Japan will take humpbacks soon as part of its research programme

If people care for the welfare of whales, says Leah Garces, that alone should be enough to stop hunting.
"The cruelty of whaling holds the key to stopping the pro-whaling bloc," she declared at the end of the five-day International Whaling Commission (IWC) annual meeting in St Kitts.
"Scientific evidence presented this year confirms that there is no humane way to kill a whale at sea and, therefore, that all commercial and so-called scientific whaling should cease on cruelty grounds alone.
"We believe the issue of cruelty is an unsurpassable fortress blocking any attempt to lift this moratorium."
The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), Ms Garces' organisation, now aims to take the cruelty message into the homes of countries where it will be heard and appreciated - indeed, where it was heard and appreciated several decades ago when it was a key factor in establishing the global moratorium on commercial whaling.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifhttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/start_quote_rb.gif The taste of vitriol is everywhere within the IWC. Many delegates have elephant-like memories of insults traded decades ago, of deals badly done, of liaisons made and broken http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/end_quote_rb.gif


Will it be heard and appreciated in the whaling nations of Japan, Norway and Iceland?
Will it be heard in the Caribbean, African and Pacific countries whose votes were crucial in the key session of this meeting, when delegates endorsed the St Kitts Declaration, a motion calling for the eventual return of commercial whaling?
Will the citizens of these countries heed the other anti-whaling messages - that our knowledge of stock sizes is not complete enough to allow resumption of commercial hunting, and that whales can generate more income through eco-tourism than they can through meat markets and restaurants?
Crucial Caribbean

With this meeting being held in the Caribbean, and with countries like St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda and St Lucia being Japan's most vociferous allies, there has been intensive and at times acrimonious debate over the true views of Caribbean peoples.
Before the meeting, a poll commissioned by WWF showed majorities against whaling in states which traditionally support Japan. Caribbean leaders here said the poll was rigged, that some of the people questioned were in fact tourists, a charge which WWF emphatically denies.
Caribbean environmental groups intend to re-double efforts to swing public opinion behind the anti-whalers, and against the St Kitts Declaration, which they greeted with loathing.
"We find that it is impossible, inadmissible and very retrograde to even think in that way," said Lesley Sutty of the Eastern Caribbean Coalition for Environmental Awareness (Eccea).
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http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/start_quote_rb.gif All the governments have a budget for their fisheries programmes, but it is never enough http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/end_quote_rb.gif


Marie-Louise Felix, WWF


As to why Caribbean leaders lined up with Japan, she said: "I think there is serious influence by Japan - let's be honest with our words - with regard to certain parts of government, with regard to fisheries agencies around the world, not just in the Caribbean."
There are clearly two factors here. One is a belief that Japan has effectively bought votes in the IWC with fisheries aid - a charge which is often repeated but which Japan denies - and the other is that western nations have left a hole which Japan has plugged.
"All the [Caribbean] governments have a budget for their fisheries programmes, but it is never enough," said Marie-Louise Felix, wildlife management officer with WWF in Suriname and a former fisheries official in the Caribbean.
With the exception of one grant from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and another from Canada, she said, Caribbean countries had been unsuccessful at garnering fisheries aid from any source except Japan. European and US funding has often been sought, and regularly turned down.
"Japan has come to the assistance of Caribbean countries, and has had basically an open-door policy so the funding hasn't come with too many strings attached," she told me.
"And this has made a tremendous difference to fisheries management projects in most of the Caribbean countries."
The implication is clear, then: if western anti-whaling nations want to pick off Caribbean votes at the IWC, they need to get involved in fisheries aid. Many donate money for other issues, including poverty alleviation, good governance and health; but fisheries aid may hold the key to whaling.
Building the pressure
So what are the prospects of commercial whaling making a re-appearance?
It would need to be approved by a three-quarters majority at a future IWC meeting; and to prevent that from ever happening, environment groups, as well as pushing the cruelty message, plan to redouble their lobbying of sympathetic governments.
Some governments say they also plan to recruit other anti-whaling countries onto the commission.
But the best tactic that Japan and Norway have available may be simply to increase year after year the number of whales which they hunt - Norway commercially under a legal objection to the global moratorium, and Japan in the name of scientific research.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41793000/jpg/_41793090_whale_getty_203b.jpg Some delegates think the current situation is unsustainable


Increase it far enough, and the small number of nations that believe regulated commercial hunting to be less bad than the present situation could start to grow.
US whaling commissioner William Hogarth said the current situation was untenable, with numbers increasing year on year - 2,500 to be taken during 2006 - and said he thought it was a good idea to work with Japan on a system to ensure that if commercial hunting does come back, it is done on a sustainable basis.
The elements of such a system have been developed by the IWC over a 14-year period. It is called the Revised Management Scheme (RMS), and sets out to calculate sustainable catch limits for various species in various locations.
Mr Hogarth's team will be under some pressure at next year's IWC meeting because quotas for subsistence hunting are due for review; and renewing the US quota for indigenous Alaskan groups will be a high priority, with explosive political potential inside the US.
Some environment groups suggest this could force the US into a compromise deal with Japan.
Having said that, the US is currently lined up four-square against any lifting of the moratorium, and is diametrically opposed to Japan on one key issue.
If and when commercial hunting is re-introduced, it wants scientific whaling to end - a position with which Japan vehemently disagrees.
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Guide to whale species (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456973/html/nn1page1.stm)



"These two issues are totally unrelated," said Joji Morishita, Japan's deputy commissioner.
"Under any resource management organisation, science and research are needed; and we will not accept the linkage of the issue of the RMS and scientific whaling."
Without compromise on that, Japan is unlikely to persuade many western delegates that it is serious about keeping future commercial whaling at sustainable levels.
Echoes of the past
The taste of vitriol is everywhere within the IWC. Many delegates have elephant-like memories of insults traded decades ago, of deals badly done, of liaisons made and broken.
Undercurrents of intolerance, colonialism, and chicanery permeate the conversations; even the allegation of racism rears its ugly head with depressing regularity.
Beneath all this, though, are two basic questions: is hunting whales cruel, and are stocks big enough to stand it?
The first will surely be fought on the basis of values; the second should be capable of scientific scrutiny, though many say that financial resources are too small to do really comprehensive assessments.
For now, conservationists push the precautionary principle. And Remi Parmentier of the Varda Group, here as a special advisor to the Pew Trusts, found a real irony in Japan's current position.
"Japan is complaining about the way things have gone in the era since 1972 when the moratorium was first proposed. "But if we conservationists had not been there at the time, successfully pushing whale conservation and the moratorium, today there would not be any scope for discussion of a resumption of commercial whaling because in all likelihood there would only be remnant populations of whales left." Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk (Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk)

[veggiewoman]

As sad as this next bit of news is, it might get the people who witnessed this to get involved in campaigning against whaling, we can hope anyway.

http://www.wdcs.org/dan/publishing.nsf/allweb/6EBE4EAA598A7F65802571A200554949


Whale killed in front of tour boat


Norwegian whalers shot and killed a whale as it was being watched by about 80 tourists on a whale watching expedition.

According to reports, the tourists had paid to go out on a whale watching boat from Andenes, in Northern Norway, where whale watching is an increasingly popular tourist attraction.

However, during the trip, while the tourists were admiring a whale in its natural environment, a Norwegian whaling vessel approached and shot the animal. The tourists later witnessed a second whaling boat hauling yet another dead whale up onto the deck.

A local newspaper reported that the tourists on the boat were upset and shocked by what they had witnessed.

It was reported that Jan Kristiansen, who represents the whalers, defended the killings, claiming the whalers were only taking advantage of good weather conditions, and that while the hunters cannot prevent whale watchers from being against the hunts, the whale watchers cannot prevent the hunts from happening.

A spokesperson for WDCS said: “This unfortunate incident shows the absurdity of the whaling nations’ claim that whaling and whale watching are compatible activities. They simple cannot have it both ways. The vast majority of people visiting Norway do not want to see a whale killed in front them and, if they think this is a risk, it is likely that they will go elsewhere.” Source: www.aftenpost.no

[veggiewoman]

please sign the following petition , thanks

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/446578966?ltl=1152698942

[veggiewoman]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5175970.stm
more news on the above link

Last Updated: Thursday, 13 July 2006, 11:01 GMT 12:01 UK http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/dot_629.gif
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/email.gif E-mail this to a friend (http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/email/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5175970.stm)http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/print.gif Printable version (http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5175970.stm)
Norway's whale catch falls short

By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website
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http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41881000/jpg/_41881996_harpoonbb203c.jpg Norway's fleet will harpoon just half of its quota this year

Norway's whaling fleet will catch only half of its quota this season.
The government set a quota of 1052 minke whales, but so far only 444 have been landed.
Industry spokesmen predict the final tally for the April to August season will be about 500, and say bad weather earlier in the year prevented hunting.
Western environmental groups say the industry is in crisis, with stores full of unsold meat and a lack of demand from the Norwegian public.
"Norway has some real headaches this summer," said Sue Fisher from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS).
"It dramatically increased its whaling quota this year to make a political statement, but that is backfiring now.
"Middlemen can't sell the meat already caught and have run out of storage space."
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifhttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/start_quote_rb.gif If you don't have meat in May it's not possible to sell the meat you do have in July http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/end_quote_rb.gif


Hermod Larsen

The government increased its quota to 1052 whales from 797 last year.
Commercial whaling is banned globally, but Norway lodged a formal objection when the moratorium was established 20 years ago and continues its commercial hunt, based around the Lofoten Islands in the country's north-west.
Bad breaks
Norwegian sources paint a different picture of the reasons for the low catch, which has seen parts of the fleet suspend operations in recent weeks.
"It's been very slow this year, that's for sure," said Rune Frovik, secretary of the High North Alliance which represents whalers, fishermen and sealers in northern countries.
"One reason is the bad weather - it's been rainy and windy and cold, and this June we had less sunshine than in any June for many years," he told the BBC News website.
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Guide to whale species (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456973/html/nn1page1.stm)

"And then there hasn't been much capelin along the coast - this is a favoured prey for minke, so when that fish is not there the minkes go elsewhere."
The other factor, he said, is holidays, with many whalers and people involved in the processing industry taking several weeks off in July and August.
Hermod Larsen, regional director of the Norwegian Raw Fish Organisation for the Lofoten area, agreed that bad weather in May and June was a key factor.
"As the season goes on, the quality of the whalemeat goes down," he told the BBC News website.
"From mid-summer on they eat a lot of herring and other fish, they are eating and eating and getting fatter and fatter, and the fat is not good for the meat.
"Usually people start eating whale in May, they grill it and eat it; but if you don't have meat in May it's not possible to sell the meat you do have in July."
His organisation, which represents processing companies, has stopped buying whalemeat. Some whalers process their own meat, and according to Mr Frovik, this activity continues.
"Also, it appears that the three main processing plants wish to resume processing and buying whale meat after the holiday, more exactly on Monday 7th August," he said.
Mr Frovik and Mr Larsen both expect the final catch to be in the region of 500 whales.
International pressure
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifTHE LEGALITIES OF WHALING
Objection - A country formally objects to the IWC moratorium, declaring itself exempt
Scientific - A nation issues unilateral 'scientific permits'; any IWC member can do this
Aboriginal - IWC grants permits to indigenous groups for subsistence food

Norway is one of three countries to hunt the "great whales"; the others are Japan and Iceland, which claim their catches are for "scientific research".
In June these pro-whaling nations saw a motion passed at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) annual meeting calling for the eventual resumption of commercial hunting - the first pro-whaling resolution in 20 years.
Concerned by such moves, anti-whaling nations along with conservation and animal rights groups are stepping up pressure to have all whaling stopped.
Earlier this year a group of 12 countries sent a letter of diplomatic protest to Norway, while a similar letter to Japan was supported by 17 nations.
Communities in Norway, Japan and Iceland accuse these countries of trying to impose their own cultural values on societies which do not view whales as special creatures. But conservation groups say that whaling is intrinsically cruel, stocks are too low for hunting to be sustainable, and demand for whalemeat is declining. The current Norwegian situation, they say, is evidence for their case.

[veggiewoman]

just been told about this website :
http://www.earthisland.org/saveTaijiDolphins/index.html

[forthebirds]

please sign the following petition , thanks

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/446578966?ltl=1152698942

I just had the privilege to see Paul Watson speak at AR 2006. Unfortunately if whaling becomes "legal", and ocean sanctuaries are removed (as Japan would like) there is little he'll be able to continue to do without being stopped.

Amazing how things creep back in if pressure isn't kept up - the rise again of baby seal clubbings, fur back in fashion and now whaling? The insanity never stops as long as there's money to be had... :(

I'm bumping this thread to get this petitioned signed.

[Kevster]

The 'authorities' attempt to clamp down on Sea Shepherds mission to help the whales.

'Sea Shepherd News

Pirates of Compassion Sail into Hostile Waters

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Farley Mowat is now officially a pirate vessel.

We are at sea without a flag, in search of illegal whaling operations in hostile and remote waters at the bottom of the world. The Farley Mowat cleared Australian Customs in Hobart, Tasmania on December 29, 2006 only hours before the nation of Belize struck our flag. [...]'

http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_070105_1.html

[Kevster]

'Japanese Whaling Fleet Forced to Run from Sea Shepherd

The Sea Shepherd ship Robert Hunter has closed in on the Japanese whaling fleet. The Sea Shepherd helicopter Kookaburra has flown over the Japanese whaling ship the Nisshin Maru and the three harpoon vessels accompanying it. The identification of the Japanese fleet is 100% positive. The Sea Shepherd ships have covered thousands of square miles and have been searching for the whaling fleet for over 6 weeks. [...]'

http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_070208_1.html

[Kevster]

'Whalers Activities Disrupted by Sea Shepherd

February 8th, 2007 - 1130 Hours (Pacific Coast Standard time)
February 9th, 2007 - 0830 Hours (Auckland N.Z. time)

The Sea Shepherd ships Farley Mowat and the Robert Hunter have been engaged in a confrontation with the Japanese whaling factory ship Nisshin Maru since 0530 Hours this morning.

When the Robert Hunter first approached the Nisshin Maru there were three hunter killer vessels with the mother ship. These vessels quickly fled northward. The Nisshin Maru fled east straight towards the Farley Mowat. At two miles from the Farley Mowat, the Nisshin Maru turned and fled back west again.

There was a pod of whales in the area near the whalers. The Sea Shepherd crew is happy to report that these whales fled and are now safe from the Japanese harpoons.

The Sea Shepherd crew has successfully delivered six liters of butyric acid onto the flensing deck of the Nisshin Maru. This "butter acid" is a nontoxic obnoxious smelling substance. The foul smell has cleared the flensing deck and stopped all work of cutting up whales.

Sea Shepherd crew in Zodiacs have nailed plates to the drain outlets (near the waterline) on the Nisshin Maru that spill the blood of the whales from the flensing deck into the sea. This is backing up the blood onto the flensing decks. The plates are secured by Hilt nail guns that drive steel nails through solid steel.

Sea Shepherd has relayed the coordinates to the Greenpeace vessel Esperanza. Despite Greenpeace's refusal to cooperate with the Sea Shepherd ships, the whales need every anti-whaling ship in the area. Greenpeace refuses to give Sea Shepherd their position so it is unknown how long it will take them to reach the area where the whaling fleet is operating.

Sea Shepherd was able to outmaneuver the Japanese satellite tracking system by taking the ships south of the Balleny Islands through heavy ice. Thirty years of ice navigation opposing the Canadian seal slaughter has proven quite helpful. The Japanese satellite surveillance program cannot track a ship's wake through the ice. "We came in the back door out of the freezer so to speak," said Captain Paul Watson.

The Sea Shepherd ships have been searching for the Japanese fleet for five weeks and have covered thousands of square miles of ocean.

The crew of both Sea Shepherd ships are relieved that the Japanese whaling fleet has been found and is now under pursuit and engaged in confrontation with the Robert Hunter and the Farley Mowat. They can now do what they do best – save whales!'

www.seashepherd.org

[veggiewoman]

TWO ANTI WHALING ACTIVIST GO MISSING

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6345131.stm




Whaling truce in high seas rescue

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42553000/jpg/_42553701_activist203afp.jpg Activists vow to continue pursuing Japanese whaling ships

A Japanese whaling ship joined in the search for two anti-whaling activists who went missing during a confrontation in icy seas off Antarctica.
A temporary truce was called during a joint, eight-hour search for the two members of the conservation group Sea Shepherd, who were later recovered.
The pair became lost during a clash in which the activist group splashed acid onto the deck of the whaling ship.
The Japanese government called the actions "piratical" and "dangerous".
The incident happened in the early hours of Friday, after the activist ship The Farley Mowat caught up with Japan's Nisshin Maru whaling ship.
The US-based Sea Shepherd group said its activists managed to douse the deck of the whaler with six litres of non-toxic but foul smelling butyric acid.
'Extreme relief'
During the confrontation, US activist John Gravois and Australian activist Karl Neilsen became lost in the heavy fog and snow.
Mr Gravois later told the Australian Associated Press that their inflatable dinghy was damaged after it collided with the whaling ship and they quickly fell behind the group.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifhttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41765000/jpg/_41765858_whale_getty203.jpg
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Saving the whale - again (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5101478.stm)


He said they managed to tie their boat to an iceberg to stop themselves from drifting, while they awaited rescue.
"When they found us it was a feeling of the most extreme relief that you can image," he said.
They were eventually found by the Farley Mowat, but the activists had earlier asked for help in the search from the Nisshin Maru.
"They were willing to do that - (it's) nothing we wouldn't do for them as well," said Johnny Vasic, international director of the Sea Shepherd group.
"It's a kind of rule of the sea and sailors."
He said they had thanked the Japanese whalers for their help, but that they would continue to pursue them.
Outraged
Mr Vasic also defended the tactic of pouring acid on to the ships, saying it had no harmful effects other than smelling bad and was aimed to disrupt the whalers' work.
"That's one of our tactics, to wake them up to the smell of rotting flesh while is all over their ships," he told the BBC from on board one of the activist ships.
A spokesman for the Japanese Foreign Ministry told the BBC that he was outraged that Japan's ships had been attacked in this way.
He pointed out that all the members of the International Whaling Commission had agreed to try to prevent incidents like this taking place. Japan says it plans to cull 850 minke whales this winter and 10 fin whales, as part of what it calls its programme of scientific research. Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace have vowed to do all they can to disrupt the hunt.

[Roxy]

Haha.....acid on decks.....sounds like old Captain Watson did learn something from his Greenpeace Days! :D

That must've been a terrifying experience for those activists. Good on them though and I hope they continue to fight the good fight.

[Kevster]

No more whaling then....

'The Nisshin Maru is not a very safe ship. Around ten years ago, while enroute to the coast of Antarctica, the vessel suffered a major fire that forced the whale slaughter ship into a South Pacific island port for repairs.

Now it has happened again.

The Nisshin Maru, the death star of whale kind, the floating slaughterhouse and ruthless killing machine, is now burning out of control in the Ross Sea.

One hundred and twenty-seven crewmembers have been evacuated to the other ships in the whaling fleet. Twenty crew remain onboard to fight the fire. Ships in the region have been notified to head towards the stricken vessel. [...]'

http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_070214_2.html

[Roxy]

:D

[Pob]

Some videos from the whale murderer's point of view of their boats being attacked by Sea Shepherd.

http://www.icrwhale.org/gpandsea.htm

Nice of them to host them and save Sea Shepherd's bandwidth ;)

[Kevster]

If you can't b[eat] them join them.

'Greenpeace Eats Whales to "Save" Them

Greenpeace has gone over the line this time in betraying the whales.

The Greenpeace Foundation has launched a bizarre and contradictory campaign to "save" the whales. This week on Valentine's Day, Greenpeace hit the road in Japan with the strangely named "Whale Love Wagon."

The campaign opened by asking supporters to send a fax transmission to the Antarctic whaling fleet saying, "I love Japan but whaling breaks my heart."

The Greenpeace attitude is that if they can't beat them, then they should join them. And in doing so, Greenpeacers have betrayed the whales. They are eating them.

In promoting their theme that Japanese whale eating culture must be respected, a video distributed by Greenpeace depicts a Greenpeacer visiting a Japanese grandmother in her home. He sits down and eats whale with her, and politely tells her that is was delicious.

"We are making it very clear that we have no problem with Japanese culture or eating whale," said Emiliano Ezcurra, an Argentinian Greenpeace activist who helped design the campaign.

Ezcurra said that Greenpeace has no problem with whaling on Japan's coast but opposes the slaughter of the whales in the Southern Oceans Whale Sanctuary. [...]'

http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_070216_1.html

[eve]

Nothing Greenpeace does surprises me. But today there was the following report on SBS:
Iceland has followed Norway in resuming commercial hunts and later this year Japan is set to ask permission from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to join them. Icelanders have been hunting whales since the days of the Vikings, but stopped commercial whaling in 1985, and scientific whaling in 1989, under the international moratorium on commercial hunts.

It resumed scientific whaling in 2003 and announced in October last year that it planned to resume commercial hunting. However the decision has caused controversy both inside and outside Iceland, which also has a whale watching industry. Indeed, both whale hunting vessels are moored just across the pier from whale watching boats in Reykjavik harbour.

Whaler Kristjan Loftsson, who lobbied his government for a resumption of whaling, said the creatures should be treated "like any other living resource".
"If the stocks are healthy you could take so and so many whales ever year and carry on forever," he said.

However some Icelanders feel that whale hunting seriously harms their country.

Japan, Iceland, Norway and other pro-whaling nations have been pushing the IWC to revoke the 1986 ban on commercial hunts amid controversy over exactly how many whales are left in the world's oceans.

At an IWC meeting in June 2006, those nations passed a symbolic resolution to support ending the moratorium. Officially ending the ban would require a 75 percent majority among commission members.
SOURCE: APTN

[harpy]

A link for writing to ask Iceland to stop whaling:

https://community.hsus.org/campaign/Iceland_whaling_06/w36373d4vxme7te?

[Poison Ivy]

Whales Win, Japan Loses at CITES
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Media Release

At a June 6th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in The Hague, Netherlands, Japan and Iceland once again failed to remove the protection status of the world’s whales. CITES’ “Fourteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties” is being held from June 3rd – 15th.

Last week, Japan got trounced at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, when the IWC condemned so-called Japanese research whaling in Antarctica. The CITES decision on June 6, 2007, guarantees that Iceland and Norway will not be selling whale products to Japan anytime soon. All traffic in whale products internationally is illegal and a violation of CITES.

Japan's proposal for CITES to review the status of all great whale species was defeated by a vote of 55 to 28 with 13 abstentions. Japan had hoped that, following this review, CITES would recommend that the protection currently afforded to some whale species should be lifted.

Japanese delegate Yoshikiyo Kondo proposed a periodic review of all cetaceans listed for protection by CITES. Iceland had proposed that CITES review the current protection for the North Atlantic fin whale with a view to allowing international trade in the animals which it began hunting commercially last year.

A counter proposal from Australia that no review of any great whale, including the fin whale, should occur while the IWC's commercial whaling ban is in place, was adopted with 60 votes for, 23 against, and 13 abstentions.

Japan and Iceland's proposals, had they been accepted, would have led to the immediate resumption of international commercial trade in whale products for the first time in more than 20 years.

The whaling nations have tried 15 times to overturn the ban and they have failed 15 times.

Sea Shepherd Founder and President Captain Paul Watson was thrilled to hear the news from the Hague. “Whaling has no place in the 21st Century. It is my lifelong objective to abolish and eradicate this cruel and unnecessary slaughter of the whales. We need to let the whales be – to live in harmony in the sea, free from fear of our harpoons, lances, and flensing knives.”

This ruling coupled with the condemnation of Japanese whaling in the Antarctic by the IWC gives Sea Shepherd a clear mandate to return to the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary in December 2007 to renew efforts to obstruct and shut down illegal Japanese whaling operations.

“The law is on our side,” said Captain Watson. “We don’t go down to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to break laws; we go there to enforce the laws.”

Sea Shepherd ship Farley Mowat is currently en route to Iceland with the objective of intercepting and obstructing illegal whaling activities by the Icelandic whalers.

“We hope that Iceland will see that there is no international support for their illegal whaling activities,” said Captain Alex Cornelissen from the Farley Mowat. “We would like to see Iceland give up this illegal effort to kill endangered fin whales, but if they don’t, we will do everything we can to prevent them from killing whales once we arrive in their waters.”