Whale fluke of Southern Right Whale.
The whales were tracked via satellite as they migrated from
breeding and calving areas in the tropical South Pacific to the
feeding grounds of the Southern Ocean.
This project produced important information on the movements and
migratory destinations of humpback whales from small, un-recovered
populations off Rarotonga (Cook Islands) and New Caledonia.
Greenpeace is communicating this critical non-lethal scientific
research to the wider public as part of their campaign against
Japan's unnecessary lethal "research" in the Southern Ocean Whale
Sanctuary.
On their journey, the humpbacks, like hundreds of thousands of
other whales, face a range of threats including ship strikes,
entanglement in fishing gear, pollution and the impacts of climate
change.
Every year, more than 300,000 whales and dolphins die from nets
alone. The one place you might think they would be safe is a whale
sanctuary like the Southern Ocean. Not so. Once in Antarctic waters
they face the threat of whaling - the threat to whales that is the
most easily remedied.
The Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary was meant to be a safe haven,
but every year the Fisheries Agency of Japan send a fleet of
whaling ships to kill in the name of science. For the third year
running they aim to hunt down almost 1,000 minke whales.
This year, they also plan to kill 50 threatened humpback whales
and 50 endangered fin whales.
All of these whales will die for so-called "scientific research"
- research that has been labelled "needless" by the International
Whaling Commission, which is also urging the Japanese government to
stop.
In reality, the "research" is commercial whaling in disguise -
and the whale meat actually ends up in supermarket shelves in
Japan, even though few people eat it anymore. Commercial whaling is
banned under IWC rules.
In contrast, the Great Whale Trail project is contributing to
real scientific efforts without killing whales.