And so it begins…

Posted by Joshua S. Hill

November 21, 2007

Originally Posted at PlanetSave.com

Over the past month or so I’ve written two articles concerning the issues surrounding Japan’s reinitiating the whale hunt. They say they are doing it for scientific research, but there is incontrovertible evidence thanks to Greenpeace that such “evidence gathering” is not necessary.

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 whales 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 making for 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.

To be honest, there is really not much else to report here. 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.

For more information, you can check out the ships blog here, and even have a look at the ships webcam here (updated each minute with a new photo). The Esperanza failed to meet the fleet, and you can read all about what happened here. But needless to say, kudos to Greenpeace for the great job they are doing!

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