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Whaling: Beginning of the End?

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Richard Black | 12:36 UK time, Wednesday, 16 February 2011

Is this the beginning of the end for Japanese whaling in the Antarctic?

Clash between whaling ship and opponentClashes have been dramatic – enough to cause a U-turn?

That is the biggest question arising from Wednesday’s announcement in Tokyo that this season’s whaling programme was being suspended.

The Fisheries Agency (FAJ) hasn’t formally declared the season over, but it appears likely that the fleet will soon be on its way out of the Southern Ocean and back to harbour.

FAJ official Tatsuya Nakaoku blamed the suspension on harrassment by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which has made life progressively more difficult for the whaling fleet each year by sending faster and better-equipped boats.

This season, it has regularly managed to park across the back of the Nisshin Maru factory ship, making it impossible to winch whales on board.

Read the rest at BBC News…

Note: Newswire stories are provided as a courtesy of OceanDoctor.org. Content of these articles is provided by external sources.

Japan Suspends Whale Hunt After Chase by Activists

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The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says their tactics in trying to stop Japan’s annual Antarctic whale hunt have been completely safe and not endangered anybody.

“There is nothing violent about what we are doing here,” Alex Cornelissen, Captain of the Sea Shepherd vessel “Bob Baker” told the BBC World Service via satellite phone.

Japan says it has suspended its whale hunt “for now” because of safety concerns, after Sea Shepherd activists chased the Nisshin Maru, the Japanese fleet’s mother ship.

Read the rest at BBC News…

Note: Newswire stories are provided as a courtesy of OceanDoctor.org. Content of these articles is provided by external sources.