The annual assault on the whales in the Southern Ocean Whale
Sanctuary is over for another year with a final tally of 551 whales
dying for the sake of fake and discredited research.
Although the number of whales taken was just over half the
number the whalers had hoped, it is still over 100 whales more than
the whalers took just three years ago.
The whale hunt was disrupted for 15 days during the height of
the southern summer when our ship the Esperanza chased the Nisshin
Maru across 4,300 miles of the whale sanctuary, shutting down the
whole whaling operation for the entirety of the epic chase.
As well as minke whales, the whalers also intending to take
endangered fin and humpback whales too. They decided to cancel the
humpback hunt this year after fierce protests around the world but
the fin whales were still in the crosshairs of the whalers.
In recent years, the Japanese Fisheries Agency has been telling
the world that there had been a 'rapid increase' in the number of
fin whales in the southern ocean and this justified the killing of
50 of the world's second largest whale.
Despite spending 3 months of the year scouring the Southern
Ocean Whale Sanctuary, the 6 ships of the whaling fleet didn't see
a single one of the 'plentiful' fin whales.
The battle to defend the whales now switches to Santiago in
Chile where the next meeting of the International Whaling
Commission will be held. Japan will again try to overturn decades
of whale conservation and enforce a return to the destructive days
of commercial whaling in the southern ocean.
In a whale sanctuary, the only acceptable number of whales to be
killed is zero. If the Japanese are serious about whale research -
rather than a commercial hunt disguised as research - they should
return to the Southern Ocean next year with cameras, not
harpoons.
We think Canon cameras, the Japanese company famous for its work
to promote wildlife and help endangered species - should be the
first ones to endorse that concept. Please
write to their CEO, Fujio Mitarai, and ask that he join the
efforts to make this whaling season the last.
There's no need to kill whales for
science.
Take Action
Canon is famous for supporting wildlife initiatives dedicated to protecting endangered species. So why won't they condemn the killing of whales for unnecessary research?
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