Japanese whalers foiled with water
Australian Greenpeace activists, yesterday, conjured a 'wall of water' to obscure the view of a Japanese harpoonist taking aim at a Minke whale. The Greenpeace vessel 'Arctic Sunrise' continues to harass the four-ship, Japanese whaling fleet in Antarctic waters.
The International Whaling Commission formally declared the Southern Ocean around Antarctica a whale sanctuary in 1994. Despite this, Japan has a target to kill 440 Minke whales inside the Sanctuary this year and the whale meat produced during the hunt will be sold on the open market in Japan.
"Australia successfully challenged Japan over its spurious "experimental" southern bluefin tuna fishing program, which was stopped after an international tribunal found it to be illegal. Australia must again lead the international challenge against this illegal whaling program" said Denise Boyd, Greenpeace oceans campaigner.
Using a water pump mounted on the stern of an inflatable boat, three Australian activists sprayed an eight metre wall of water directly in front of the harpoon of the catcher vessel Toshi Maru No.25, blocking the line of sight and preventing the killing of whales.
'Arctic Sunrise' first encountered the fleet some 500 km north-north-east of Proclamation Island, on 20 December. The whaling fleet managed to shake off the Greenpeace vessel for a few days around 27 December, however they were discovered again two days later after a search that included a helicopter.
Japan's Antarctic whaling programme is in violation of articles 65 and 120 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas which requires all states to cooperate with the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in the matter of whale protection. Each year the IWC passes a resolution condemning Japan for whaling in the Sanctuary and calls on it to stop its whaling program.
The activists inside the inflatables were: Curtis Barnett, (Australia) Aaron Barbetti (Australia) Richard Pearson (Australia).
