Japanese whaling resumes in Antarctica

Six Japanese whaling ships returned to the Antarctic waters of the Ross Seas south of New Zealand this week with plans on catching over 1,000 whales in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary. Japan has recently expanded whaling quotas doubling the harvest of piked (Minke) whales, and endangered Fin whales. The Japanese fleet will also be hunting Humpback whales for the first time since the 1980s. The Japanese whaling fleet, which has operated under the auspices of "scientific research" since the late 1980s, shifted from private hands this year and is now indirectly owned by the Japanese government. The environmental group Sea Shepherds has vowed to interfere with the hunt and has sent two ships, the M/Y Robert Hunter and the Sea Shepherd flagship, the M/Y Farley Mowat, to the Antarctic region. "Our objective is to place ourselves in harm's way to protect these gentle, intelligent and socially complex sentient beings," said Sea Shepherd founder and president Capt. Paul Watson. "This is an international effort to uphold international law against a pirate whaling operation." But in a last minute twist the M/Y Farley Mowat left port without a national flag or registration, after losing first Canadian, then British and Belize registry. Japan Whaling Association President Keiichi Nakajima said due to the lack of national registry, "Sea Shepherd is officially running a pirate vessel." "International law says any non-flagged vessel can be boarded for inspection, and in case of any violation or piracy, has to be detained with its crew arrested. If Paul Watson continues with his violent campaign using this vessel, then he'll be risking everything," said Nakajima, who called on the government of Japan to ensure everything possible was done to secure the safety of Japanese fleet by boarding the Farley Mowat on the high seas and seizing the ship and arresting the crew as pirates. Watson claims that the loss of registry is the result of Japanese pressure and dismissed Nakajima's threats saying that the crew of the M/Y Farley Mowat is quite prepared to defend the ship against Japanese violence. Though nobody has been injured by the Sea Shepherds' anti-whaling actions to date, the Sea Shepherds have sunk 10 whaling vessels in the North Atlantic since 1979. The Japanese whaling fleet has also intentionally rammed vessels before. On Jan. 8, 2006, the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise was deliberately rammed and damaged by the Japanese whaling vessel Nisshin Maru. Greenpeace will send a ship of its own, the Esperanza, to disrupt Japanese whaling in Antarctic waters later this month. The Australian government weighed into the brewing conflict on Jan. 15 when Australian Environment Minister Ian Campbell called Japan's use of ship-mounted water cannons against environmentalists in inflatable vessels "dangerous and heavy-handed." "In the Antarctic there is also the ever present danger of hypothermia, or of protesters falling out of their inflatables and under their propellers, or under ships," said Campbell. "This is dangerous. It's not in compliance with international law that requires the avoidance of danger and the threat of injury." According to the Japanese Whaling Association, Campbell reportedly offered the Sea Shepherds assistance by offering use of Australian Antarctic bases in case of emergency. A record 27 countries have joined in a diplomatic protest this year against Japan's "scientific" whaling program in the Antarctic, New Zealand Conservation Minister Chris Carter announced on Jan. 14. The countries supporting the diplomatic protest known as a demarche are: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Britain and the United States. Carter said they combined in a formal protest at the Japanese Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on Jan. 12 and would make a further protest at the Japanese Fisheries Agency.