Earlier this week, our crew on the Esperanza awoke to find themselves surrounded by at least 50 humpback whales feeding in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Leandra, our on-board scientist, captured as part of our ongoing research program. Listen to the recording >>
You don't need to fire an exploding harpoon into a whale and
kill it in order to study it. While we deploy hydrophones and take
photographs as our Great Whale Trail expedition continues, we are
proving that the scientific excuse for killing whales is a sham and
we are demanding that the Japanese government stop the whale hunt
in the Southern Ocean. This week we added research into whale song
to the satellite tracking, skin biopsy, and photo identification
work in which we've been collaborating with scientists from the
International Fund for Animal Welfare, Cook Islands Whale Research,
and Opération Cétacés (New Caledonia).
© Greenpeace/Jiri Rezac
Humpback whales are the only whales that truly "sing", and it is
only the males that do it, usually when they are in their tropical
breeding grounds. But sometimes songs are heard while the whales
are migrating and very occasionally when they are feeding. So this
recording of a humpback singing in the Southern Ocean is very
valuable for research on humpback behavior. Nobody really knows why
they sing but one of the most popular scientific theories is that
the males use it to show off to the females -- in much the same way
peacocks have elaborate tails in order to try and attract a
potential mate.
While Esperanza's crew documented this baleen banquet for
science, spectators from around in the world were able to take part
in a virtual whale watching trip
via the newly updated live web cam on the ship, which provided
a fantastic view from the top of the ship's mast.
Greenpeace's collaboration with scientists in the South Pacific
to track humpbacks via satellite has already yielded results which
scientists have called "amazing." In stark contrast, the Japanese
Fisheries Agency's Research Program has been dismissed by the
International Whaling Commission as having very little scientific
value. It is, essentially, a hoax -- with the results of the
research turning up on supermarket shelves, restaurant menus and
even dog food rather than in scientific journals.
On board, the BBC's Jonah Fisher wrote
in his
diary:
A month ago the Japanese fleet was still planning to kill 50
humpbacks as part of their scientifically licensed whaling program.
If they had been in the same spot as the Greenpeace ship today,
they could probably have got their quota in one go. In every
direction there were humpbacks surfacing - and with their curious
nature it would have made an easy day for the harpoonist.
The Japanese whaling fleet is currently in the Southern Ocean to
slaughter up to 935 minke whales and 50 endangered fin whales.
While the crew of the Esperanza will defend the whales from the
harpoons they will also continue to show how to carry out real
whale science demonstrating that the only way a scientist shoots a
whale is with a camera.
On December 22nd, the Japanese government backed down in the
face of pressure from Greenpeace supporters, whale advocates, and
conservation-minded governments, announcing that they would not
hunt humpbacks this season.
But we have heard that plans are being made to build a brand new
whaling factory ship -- a larger ship than the Nisshin Maru, one
capable of processing many more whales. It will be built at a cost
of billions of yen in Japanese taxpayers money. Such a ship would
be built specifically to kill and process thousands of whales,
including humpbacks in the future. Japanese tax payers must be
wondering why they are paying scandalous sums of money for a sham
science program which results in tonnes of whale meat being
stockpiled. Surely there are better things to spend that money
on.