And so it begins…
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For the past month I’ve brought to your attention here at Planetsave and Green Options the issues surrounding Japan reinstating the whale hunt. They claim they are doing it for scientific research, but thanks to Greenpeace, it’s indisputable that such “evidence gathering” is unnecessary.
From the top: It is simply not necessary to kill whales to study them!
And yet, the Japanese “research” fleet has just left its home port of Shimonoseki, and set sail for the Antarctic waters where they will kill 50 humpback whales, up to 935 Antarctic minke whales and up to 50 fin whales.
A 1963 moratorium put the humpback whale under international protection, so this is the first time since then that humpbacks have been targeted. The International Whaling Commission has called for an end to Japanese whale killing, and added that almost nothing retrieved by the mission will be of any use to science.
The Greenpeace vessel, Esperanza, is currently is currently trailing the fleet, hoping to intercept them as they leave the harbor. “The whaling fleet must be recalled now. If it is not, we will take direct, non-violent action to stop the hunt,” said expedition leader Karli Thomas aboard the ship.
For more information on Greenpeace’s efforts, make sure to check out the links below. The Great Whale Trail project was a huge success, and was a perfect way to show Japan that their methods are obsolete and simply barbaric.
Greenpeace - Whalers depart Japan
AP via MSNBC - Japan whaling fleet to go after humpbacks
More from GO and PS
Greenpeace versus Japan: Killing Not Necessary for Whale Research
Photo Courtesy of Greenpeace
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