Media release - January 8, 2008
An international team aboard the Greenpeace ship Esperanza, currently searching for the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary near Antarctica, today released a rare series of audio recordings of humpback whales. The recordings are a significant contribution to the global scientific knowledge base on whales, taken without harming the whales, in contrast with the senseless hunt currently being undertaken by the Japanese government under the false guise of scientific research.
"We were surrounded by more than 50 feeding humpbacks," said
Greenpeace scientist Leandra Goncalves, currently onboard the
Esperanza. "This provided us with an amazing opportunity to record
the vocalizations of whales as they fed. Very little is known about
whale behavior in the Southern Ocean. This data, in addition to
that already gathered earlier this year during Greenpeace's Great
Whale Trail tagging project, will give us a greater understanding
of the behavior and communications of humpback whales."
"In stark contrast to the non-lethal research that we and other
legitimate researchers have been carrying out, the Japanese
Fisheries Agency's Research Program has determined practically
nothing of scientific value," said Greenpeace Japan whales
campaigner Sakyo Noda, also onboard the Esperanza. "While Japan's
whaling fleet has given the humpbacks mercy this year, it still
plans to needlessly slaughter nearly 1,000 whales, including 50
endangered fin whales."
Greenpeace is collaborating with a team of scientists on the
"Great Whale Trail" project, collecting data from satellite tagging
of whales, harmless skin biopsies and tail identification. The
project has yielded valuable information about the migration
patterns of threatened humpback populations. Greenpeace is also
collaborating with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)
during the expedition, with a research program gathering data on
populations and identities of whales, particularly humpbacks.
Greenpeace will make available to IFAW footage of Japanese whale
hunting in order for the organization to further research the
killing methods and durations of the Japanese whaling fleet. The
Esperanza is also carrying a fixed camera recording ice patterns in
the Southern Ocean, as part of an International Polar Year
project.
The Esperanza will continue its whale research program en route
to finding and stopping the Japanese whaling fleet, demonstrating
that scientific results can be achieved without killing hundreds of
whales. This is Greenpeace's ninth expedition to the Southern
Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
VVPR info: Steve Smith, (202) 319-2432
Notes: Photo, video and interviews are available upon request.