That no humpback whales will be hunted down and killed in the
Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is good news indeed, and a victory
for Greenpeace supporters the world over who have joined with us in
demanding action from their governments, participated in
promoting non-lethal alternatives to whale research through our
Great Whale Trail, and questioned the Japanese government
directly about
plans to expand the whale hunt through the building of a new
whaling ship.
(Oh, and all of you who told your friends to
vote for Mister Splashy Pants in our whale-naming competition,
you did your part too.)
But even better news would be that no fin whales or minke whales
are to be slaughtered either. That not a single harpoon will breach
the Whale Sanctuary at all is the news that the world is waiting
for.
But whaling has not ended. Japan still plans to kill fin and
minke whales this year. Saving one species is not enough. We all
need to do more NOW to stop the hunt forever.
Scandal
The entire so-called scientific whaling programme is a two
decades old scandal, and by backing down today on the humpback
hunt, Japan has acknowledged that it fears further scrutiny of a
hoax that has nothing to do with science.
Japan's whaling program is in deep trouble. Japan has backed
down in the face of public outrage over killing the favourite whale
of whale-watchers. Japan has also realised that the humpback
whalemeat that would result from the hunt was going to be legally
challenged under the Convention on the International Trade in
Endangered Species.
Secret plans to build new ship threatened
The Japanese Fisheries Agency was clearly alarmed at the
mounting attention being paid to a "research program" which yields
no useful science, and which adds to a stockpile of unsold
whalemeat which hardly anyone buys. They are worried about the
attention the humpbacks have drawn to their plans to kill 935
minkes and 50 endangered fins. But most of all, they are worried
about attention being drawn to the plans of a few bureaucrats
within Japan who are planning a massive expansion of the whale
hunt, by constructing a new whaling factory ship at a cost of some
US$125 million to US$188 million, at the expense of Japanese
taxpayers.
Now is the time to press for an end forever
The future of whaling could well depend upon whether a new factory shipgets built or not.
We believe the Japanese taxpayer has a right to askwhether
billions of Yen should be invested in this industry --espectially
given that it generates no useful science, adds to amountain of
unsold whalemeat, poses a diplomatic liability to Japan,and in the
end profits only a very few bureuatcrats.
For nations that support whale conservation, now is the time to
press Japan to abandon the whale hunt entirely, and to stop the
build of a new Nisshin Maru.
Demand investigation into new whaling ship
If Japan succeeds in building a new whaling factory ship at the cost of millions of dollars of taxpayer's money, whaling could continue for decades. Stop the new build!
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Greenpeace is the only organisation which combines global political pressure with domestic pressure in Japan and non-violent action on the high seas to save the whales. Please help us END WHALING FOREVER -- we accept no donations from corporations or governments, relying entirely on people like you.