The International Whaling Commission, the peak international body for dealing with whaling and whale conservation, has failed to save any whales this year.
The annual International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting starts on Monday in the scenic Portuguese island of Madeira. It looks like the greatest threat to the whales there will be hot air.
The IWC is threatening to become a talkfest where no clear action is taken to stop the Japanese government from any more lethal whaling in the Southern Ocean.
Whale supporters joined Greenpeace in a vigil outside the Japanese embassy. We called for an end to whaling and justice for Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki. These two Japanese Greenpeace activists, also known as the Tokyo Two, were arrested after exposing a scandal within Japan’s whaling industry last year.
Greenpeace opened a new communications centre in Aomori, Japan’s northern fishing district. The centre will be a hub of information and discussion on the country’s whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
Greenpeace has exposed the Japanese whaling fleet’s attempt to slip out of port unannounced, and marked the occasion with banners reading “Whaling on Trial”. All reports suggest the fleet is heading directly to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
Despite the moratorium on commercial whaling, the Japanese government continues to send a fleet of ships to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to kill over a thousand whales. Each season, the fleet departs for the Sanctuary and more whales needlessly die.
After initial resistance, the Japanese Consulate in Sydney accepted nearly 50,000 origami whales presented by Greenpeace from individuals who want Japan's annual whale hunt to stop.
