Japanese Whalers And Protestors Trade Allegations As Hunt Continues

WHALES AHOY

In this handout picture, the Yushin Maru catcher ship of the Japanese whaling fleet injures a whale with its first harpoon attempt before taking a further three harpoon shots to finally kill the whale in the Southern Ocean off Antarctica, 07 January 2006. The environmental groups Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd are shadowing the fleet which plans to slaughter over a thousand whales under the pretense of science. AFP photo/HO/Greenpeace/Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert.

Sydney (AFP) Jan 07, 2006
Environmentalists continued attempts to thwart Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean Saturday, as both sides accused each other of underhand tactics in the high-seas struggle.

Greenpeace expedition leader Shane Rattenbury said two ships belonging to the environmental group had failed to prevent the whalers killing eight Minke whales, despite launching four inflatable dinghies in an attempt to distract the harpooners.

"The whalers seem to be getting more erratic in the way they operate, they pointed a harpoon at one of our inflatables today and made out as if they were going to fire it," Rattenbury told AFP via satellite phone from the Greenpeace ship Esperanza.

"They also took six shots to kill one of the eight whales harpooned today, it was a particularly brutal and gruesome death which took 30-40 minutes."

The Greenpeace ships Ezperanza and Arctic Sunrise have been shadowing the Japanese whaling fleet since December 21, attempting to disrupt an increased whale cull that has been condemned by countries such as Australia and New Zealand.

Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) has accused the protesters of piracy and alleged that they were planning to try to board one of the whalers.

"As these people realise their current activities are having little effect on us conducting our research, we believe that they will become more desperate and possibly board one of our vessels," ICR director general Hiroshi Hatanaka said in a statement.

"The captains will broadcast a further warning to these people that if any of them board our vessels, they will be taken into custody and restrained."

Rattenbury said Greenpeace activists had no intention of setting foot on Japanese whalers because the best way to stop the hunt was to position inflatables between the whales and the harpoons.

"This is just an attempt to distract attention from what's really going on down here, the needless slaughter of whales under the guise of science," he said.

The International Whaling Commission imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986 but Japan has continued hunting for what it calls scientific research -- a claim rejected by critics.

Despite international protests, Japan has this year more than doubled its planned catch of minke whales to 935 and added 10 endangered fin whales, with plans to eventually lift the number to 50, along with 50 rare humpback whales.

Source: Agence France-Presse

WHALES AHOY

Pacific Coast Whales An Endangered Species: US Officials

San Francisco (AFP) Nov 15, 2005
A group of killer whales that summers off the US Pacific Coast city of Seattle is in danger of extinction and will be protected as an endangered species, officials said on Tuesday.