Sea Shepherd Activists Prompt Japan To Suspend Whaling

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan has temporarily suspended its annual Antarctic whaling after repeated harassment by a conservationist group, a government official said Wednesday.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ships have been chasing the Japanese whaling fleet for weeks in the icy seas off Antarctica, trying to block Japan's annual whale hunt, planned for up to 945 whales.

Japan has halted the hunt since Feb. 10 after persistent "violent" disruptions by the anti-whaling protesters, said fisheries agency official Tatsuya Nakaoku.

So far, the attacks have not caused any injuries or major damage to the vessels, he said, but the protesters are throwing rancid butter in bottles and once the protesters got a rope entangled in the propeller on a harpoon vessel, causing it to slow down.

"We have temporarily suspended our research whaling to ensure safety," he said. The fleet plans to resume hunting when conditions are deemed safe, he added, but declined to say how long the suspension is planned for.

The whale hunts, which Japan says are for scientific purposes, are allowed by the International Whaling Commission as an exception to the 1986 ban, but opponents say they are a cover for commercial whaling because whale meat not used for study is sold for consumption in Japan.

The Sea Shepherd group has been shadowing Japan's whaling fleet for several years, and its campaign has drawn high-profile donor support in the United States and elsewhere and spawned the popular Animal Planet series "Whale Wars."

Japan's fisheries agency has called Sea Shepherd a terrorist group for its militant actions.

Grant Pereira, an advisory board member for the group, welcomed the halt, saying Japan "should have suspended (the hunts) 10, 15 years ago," he said. "It's morally and legally wrong to kill whales."

While whale meat isn't widely eaten in Japan, many people here believe it is hypocritical for Westerners to condemn whaling while they kill cows, pigs, fish and lambs for food. It's a cultural difference, they argue.

Last year, one of the Sea Shepherd's boats sank after colliding with a Japanese vessel. The boat's captain, New Zealander Peter Bethune, was later arrested when he boarded a whaling ship from a Jet Ski, and brought back to Japan for trial. He was convicted of assault, vandalism and three other charges and given a suspended prison term. Bethune has since returned to New Zealand.

Nakaoku said the anti-whaling ships have been chasing the Japanese fleet right behind the lead whaling ship, Nisshin Maru.

"It's extremely regrettable that our research activity has been obstructed by the acts of sabotage, which could lead to serious injuries or damage," he said. "We hope to return to normal operation as soon as possible."

The Japanese fleet left Japan late last year, and its ongoing expedition is planned for several more weeks.

Japan has failed to fulfill its catch quota in recent years due to escalating protests by the anti-whaling campaigners. Last year, Japanese whalers ended up catching only about half of their target.

Comments

[1techsan]

04:46 PM on 03/14/2011

The only things the Japanese are researching is how whale meat tastes.

[1techsan]

04:45 PM on 03/14/2011

One thing the Japanese have not really understood in comparing whales to cows, cows are not endangered.

[Samiiam]

01:26 AM on 02/23/2011

Where is their research after 25 years?

[LindySu]

10:18 PM on 02/22/2011

YES!

[adamben]

10:50 AM on 02/22/2011

well that's a step in the right direction. more importantly we should take stewardship of the seas more seriously, with so many species dying out, not to mention the pollution (i.e. floating garbage/plastic). regretfully, so many make short-term money from overfishing, and dumping garbage, that we are in great danger of destroying that ecosystem for good. so sad when, with proper planning, we could harvest a great deal of food from it, including sea weeds, besides littler fishies.

[Hypnos Rises]

12:54 AM on 02/22/2011

If you're a fishing company, you must also be a fish hatchery, tenfold. This is the only way the oceans and it's lives can survive.

[olddognewtrick]

12:05 PM on 02/21/2011

everytime I sit on the Embaradero and watch all of those seagulls all over the place... I muse to mysyelf...KFG!

[James Adelaide]

06:39 AM on 02/21/2011

But guys, you misunderstand Japanese Scientific whaling. All will become clear when you know the scientific question they are asking (which requires a 100% sample) :

"What does this one taste like?"

[oldgrendel]

10:54 AM on 02/21/2011

Good one. Fanned.

[thedave108]

12:13 AM on 02/21/2011

Let's stop killing all living creatures. We'll be better for it. Hopefully all the anti-whaling advocates are vegetarians.

[Bob Plugh]

11:43 AM on 02/25/2011

Yea, right.... And then you woke up! This is NOT NATURAL. Nature has predators and we are simply another example of that. If YOU want - don't eat anything that has been killed but DO NOT under ANY circumstance foist your misplaced sense of strangeness in my way.

[thedave108]

01:39 PM on 02/25/2011

Awfully defensive aren't we? I'm not "foisting" anything in anybodys way. I'm making a comment on a news site.

There is always that pesky Thou shall not kill, or the simple logic of - if you can survive WITHOUT killing other living entities, why shouldn't you?

But no, you're forever free to eat whatever type of corpses and other entrails you choose, in spite of what people on the internet say. I hope you are relieved........

[CommonWealth-SinglePayer]

11:31 AM on 02/20/2011

I like how the Japanese put "Research" on the side of their Whaling ships, and therefore they must be doing Research and nothing else.

[foxforcefive]

11:26 PM on 02/19/2011

Repost: It's bizarre how we're showing much more outrage towards the murder of whales & dolphins than the murder of Iraqi civilians. I mean, did we write cheques and send out fleets of activists to save Iraqi women & children? I guess oil is a necessity while whale meat isn't and people from the middle east aren't endangered, but still. I just think that we're kind of being hypocrites with a messed up sense of priorities.

[SNH7]

03:54 AM on 02/20/2011

so the only animals we shuld feel empathy for are humans, especially if they are from iraq and they are women or children (men not so much). way to be a debbie. The sea shepherds have accomplished something good. and there is still more that needs be done, including the perservation on of other endagered species and the fight for human rights. Pining one cause against another is just ignorant and counterproductive.

[foxforcefive]

02:30 AM on 02/22/2011

I didn't say anywhere that we should only feel sorry for humans, especially if they're from Iraq. I think that the Sea Shepherds have done an awesome job and I think saving the whales is a very worthy cause. Aren't I allowed to point out questionable differences in our reaction towards different causes? Did I somehow wander into the Republican section? You don't have to worry about me "pining one cause against another" because all the damage in Iraq is done.

[tizzylish]

05:58 PM on 02/19/2011

I just donated money to the Sea Shepards after reading your article. Save the whales!

[laattorney]

02:00 PM on 02/19/2011

"it's extremely regrettable"? It's extremely awesome.

[austerlitz1805]

01:32 PM on 02/19/2011

Yes! Thanks Sea Shepherds!

[Eric Mann]

12:36 PM on 02/19/2011

We win! We win! We win win win!!!!