Whaling Resumes in the Southern Ocean

After 10 days of safety for whales, the Japanese whaling fleet resumed whaling this week, slaughtering 13 minke whales in 48 hours. Seven whale carcasses hung from the Japanese processing ship when the Esperanza made contact again  with the whaling fleet, following a day out of viewing range.

Our activists launched inflatable boats and sped in between the sights of the harpoons and the whales, shooting a spray of mist in the air to block the view of the whalers. The Arctic Sunrise, our second ship in the Southern Ocean, rejoined the crew of the Esperanza in their efforts to stop the whale slaughter.

This week's actions followed several days of chasing the whaling fleet as they fled from our ships in an unprecedented move. The Esperanza, our largest and fastest vessel, was able to keep pace with the fleet for the first time in history, and for more than 10 days, we were able to prevent any whales from being killed.
But the fleet has a quota of 935 minke whales to slaughter, and time is drawing to a close.  They know now that they can’t outrun us or outwait us, so they have decided to try to resume whaling and face our activists head on.

This will be an action-packed week in the Southern Ocean, and we’ll be sure to keep you posted. Stay tuned for exciting new video footage and photos in the coming days.

Discuss this issue >> visit our message board forum and let the world know what you think of the whalers.