Whale Wars: Are the Whales Winning? Taryn Kiekow’s Blog

The phrase “whale wars” usually evokes images of doom and gloom for the whales: Japan hunting whales in the Southern Ocean – in a designated whale sanctuary, no less – with Sea Shepherd activists waving their pseudo-pirate flag in hot pursuit.  Iceland gearing up for another season of killing endangered fin whales, despite the diplomatic sanctions imposed by the United States last September. Or Norway quietly–but lethally–hunting minke whales.

             

But there is hope.

Last week, Norway's Directorate of Fisheries revealed that the number of Norwegian whaling vessels has shrunk from 33 in 2001 to just 19 last year.  Norway still hunts whales under an objection to the moratorium on commercial whaling, but it’s not hunting all the whales it self-allocates.  In 2011, for example, Norway authorized hunters to kill 1,286 minke whales, but hunters actually killed less than half of that quota (468).

Japan is also having trouble filling its self-allocated quota of whales it kills under the guise of “scientific research.”  Last year, Japan caught less than a quarter of its quota in the Southern Ocean due to interference from the Sea Sheperd.  This year, Japan beefed up security around its whaling fleet – using $29 billion from tsunami relief funds – despite the fact that support for whaling at home is at an all time low.

Last week, the Japan Times published a compelling editorial – Wars Over Whaling – which concluded that the “whaling subsidy provides little benefit to coastal communities and stymies efforts to reconstruct genuinely sustainable industries. That money could have been used for many other purposes.”

The editorial further addressed the issue of “tradition” – an argument often used by pro-whaling advocates in Japan:

The traditional custom of eating whale meat has considerably declined. Many reports show that whale meat from whales killed last year is piling up in refrigerated warehouses.

Whale meat was surely an important part of Japan's heritage, and a major source of protein in the lean times after World War II. However, its continued consumption, for either culinary, dietary or cultural reasons, hardly seems compelling at this point.
Continuing the whale hunts means Japan will continue to pay dearly in international diplomatic costs for its right to maintain a tradition that extends far beyond the borders of the country's culture yet is no longer central to daily life here at home.

Although the war on whaling is far from over, this shift in consciousness in Norway and Japan represents a small—but hopefully momentum-building—win for the whales.

Taryn Kiekow Blog 

Heroes and Villains in the Whaling Debate by Mungo MacCallum

Let's be clear about one thing from the start: Japanese Whaling is not only unnecessary and unpleasant; it is actually illegal.

This is not simply because of the whaling ships' blatant violation of declared marine sanctuaries and Australian territorial waters. It is illegal at its very core because it is based on a brazen lie.

The International Whaling Commission has authorised the Japanese to kill a certain number of various whale species each year for scientific purposes - not for eating or for fun, but for that single end. Yet the Japanese have basically given up all pretence that their annual expeditions have anything at all to do with science. There are occasional throwaway lines about examining a gland behind the ears of the dead whales to determine how old they were when their lives were ended, but nothing serious has ever appeared in a scientific journal. Nor is it ever likely to.

Whale meat is openly served in Japanese restaurants, which have been given a certain cachet by the international condemnation to which they have been subjected; there is a touch of edginess about eating whale in the same way as there is about eating the potentially deadly fugu fish. But the market is a very limited one and by itself would not justify the huge expense of mounting the annual expeditions.

The real reason the Japanese persist in the practice is sheer cussedness; they are not going to be pushed around by the colonialists of the west, whom they regard as both bullies and hypocrites. After all, every other nation on earth slaughters animals for food, often under cruel and inhumane conditions. To argue for special treatment for whales, especially those that are well off the endangered list, is sheer humbug. And they are not going to put up with it, so there.

From this perspective the most effective way to end whaling might be to simply ignore it; the probability is that after a few years it would be quietly phased out anyway, for reasons of simple economics. But that is obviously not going to happen, so while the whaling continues it is up to the rest of the world, and in particular the countries of the International Whaling Commission, to enforce its own rules.

But once again, this is not going to happen; Realpolitik dictates that no government in its right mind is going to go to war with Japan over whaling, so all that is left is the cumbersome system of international law. Australia has, belatedly, taken a case to the International Court of Justice, but the hearings will be both delayed and prolonged and the outcome deeply uncertain.

Sea Shepherd Intercepts the Japanese Whaling Fleet with Drones

Sea Shepherd Intercepts the Japanese Whaling Fleet with Drones

Japanese Security Ships Move In On the Steve Irwin

Second Mate Peter Brown launches the drone from the Steve Irwin.The Sea Shepherd crew has intercepted the Japanese whaling fleet on Christmas Day, a thousand miles north of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

The Sea Shepherd ship, Steve Irwin, deployed a drone to successfully locate and photograph the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru on December 24th. Once the pursuit began, three Japanese harpoon/security ships moved in on the Steve Irwin to shield the Nisshin Maru to allow it to escape.

This time however the Japanese tactic of tailing the Steve Irwin and the Bob Barker will not work because the drones, one on the Steve Irwin and the other on the Bob Barker, can track and follow the Nisshin Maru and can relay the positions back to the Sea Shepherd ships.

“We can cover hundreds of miles with these drones and they have proven to be valuable assets for this campaign,” said Captain Paul Watson on board the Steve Irwin.

The drone named Nicole Montecalvo was donated to the Steve Irwin by Bayshore Recycling of New Jersey.

Captain Watson having received reports from fishermen when the Japanese ship passed through the Lombok Strait waited south of the strait at a distance of 500 miles off the southwest coast of Western Australia. Sea Shepherd caught the whalers at 37 degrees South, far above the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

“The chase is on for the next 1000 miles,” said Deckhand Eleanor Lister of Jersey (U.K.).

With the Steve Irwin taking up the resources of three of the Japanese ships the Bob Barker remains clear of a tail and the Brigitte Bardot is clear to scout out the factory ship, having superior speed to the harpoon vessels.

The Sea Shepherd crew have found the Japanese whaling fleet before a single whale has been killed.

“This is going to be a long hard pursuit from here to the coast of Antarctica,” said Captain Watson. “But thanks to these drones, we now have an advantage we have never had before – eyes in the sky.”

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Governments unite to call on Japanese whalers and Sea Sheperd protesters to behaves themselves by Alison Rehn

 

Whaling: A protestor throws a bottle of rotten butter, at Japanese whaling ship Yushin Maru No 1 in the Antarctic Ocean in 2009. Picture: AP. Source: AP

AUSTRALIA, the US, New Zealand and the Netherlands have united to call on whale hunters and protesters to behave themselves on the high seas this summer.

In a joint statement, the governments of Australia and the three anti-whaling nations condemned any actions that risked lives in the Southern Ocean.

Japanese whalers and protesters from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have had several near misses on the high seas in years past.

"We are deeply concerned that confrontations in the Southern Ocean will eventually lead to injury or loss of life among protestors, many of whom may be nationals of our countries, and whaling crews," the joint government statement said.

"We call on the masters of all vessels involved in these actions in the Southern Ocean to take responsibility for ensuring that safety of human life at sea is their highest priority."

Australia won't protect Japan whale hunt

Japan whaling fleet off to Antarctica

Special section: Stop the whale hunt

Australia, the US, New Zealand and the Netherlands said they remained "resolute" in their opposition to commercial whaling - including so-called "scientific" whaling - and that lethal techniques were not required in modern whale conservation and management.

They said they were "disappointed" at the recent departure of the Japanese whaling fleet for the Southern Ocean.

"Our governments respect the right of individuals and groups to protest peacefully, including on the high seas," the statement said.

"At the same time, we condemn dangerous or violent activities from all participants on either side.

"We are prepared to deal with any unlawful activity in accordance with relevant international and domestic laws."