Whaling Images Rouse Anti-Whalers' Resolve to Stop Japan

The Australian Customs ship Oceanic Viking is monitoring the activities of the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean, and the government says it is extending the duration of its whaling surveillance program. The attorney-general is still considering what kind of legal action should be taken and who it should target.

The Australian Customs vessel Oceanic Viking released this controversial image. (Photo courtesy Australia Customs Service)

Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett says the pictures support Australia's anti-whaling position. "I think it's explicitly clear from these images that this is indiscriminate killing of whales, where you have a whale and its calf killed in this way," he said. "To claim that this is in any way scientific is to continue the charade that surrounded this issue from day one."

Customs Minister Bob Debus said the "shocking images" would support Australian legal action to stop the annual whale hunt.

"They will help us to back up the Australian government's argument in an international court case, the details of which are still to be worked out, to suggest that whaling should be stopped," Debus told reporters.

The Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research, ICR, has condemned the Australian media for "creating emotional propaganda to mislead the public."

The photo released by the Oceanic Viking carried a headline alleging a mother minke whale and her calf were taken by Japanese whalers.

ICR Director General Minoru Morimoto said the photograph taken by the Oceanic Viking shows "two minke whales, but they are not a mother and her calf as claimed by the media."

"The smaller of the two whales in the Australian Customs photograph was 5.3 metres in length, while the larger one was 8.3 metres. Both whales were female, and both were not lactating," Morimoto said.

"Our research program requires random sampling of the Antarctic population, and therefore there will be a range of sizes," Morimoto said. "It is necessary to conduct random sampling of the Antarctic minke population to obtain accurate statistical data."

In January, the Humane Society International won a historic ruling from the Australian Federal Court that the Japanese whaling company is in breach of Australian law when it kills whales in the Australian Whale Sanctuary in the Southern Ocean. The court ordered that the hunt be stopped, to no avail.

The Japanese government says it is conducting scientific research whaling, which is allowed under an international whaling moratorium in place since 1986, but critics say whales do not have be killed to gather scientific information about them.

A minke whale is taken by the Japanese whaler Yushin Maru in the Southern Ocean. (Photo courtesy Australia Customs Service)

The research includes non-lethal sighting surveys and biopsy samplings from live whales as well as a lethal research take of up to 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales under a quota self-imposed by the Japanese government.

The images taken by the Oceanic Viking have renewed European concerns over Japanese whaling.

The European Commission Monday called on the 27 EU member states to agree on a common position on the protection of whales before the next meeting of the International Whaling Commission, IWC, in June as proposed by the Commission in December 2007.

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said, "The graphic images on our television screens bring home the reality of whale hunting. This shows that more than ever the EU needs to be united in opposing whaling. I call on member states to reach a common position to reinforce the efforts to protect whales."

The Commission is working to coordinate European efforts to protect whales, but as the European Union is not yet a party to the IWC the Commission cannot negotiate on behalf of EU member states.

Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Commissioner Joe Borg said, "Whales are protected by the International Whaling Commission and European Union law. Scientific research must not be used as a cover for continued whaling."

Both of the whale conservation groups that chased the Japanese whaling fleet across the Southern Ocean in January have returned to port due to lack of fuel. Greenpeace will not be going back, but the Sea Shepherd plans to sail again Thursday to confront the whalers.

In Melbourne, Australia, where he is supervising emergency repairs to the conservation ship Steve Irwin, Sea Shepherd founder Captain Paul Watson said, "The Australian Customs and Fisheries Patrol vessel Oceanic Viking has released some incredibly disturbing pictures included a shot of a mother whale and her suckling calf being hauled bleeding up the slipway of the Nisshin Maru."

"We need to get back there and stop this slaughter," Watson said. "We are working hard to get our ship repaired, refueled, re-crewed and re-supplied. Once we return we can put a stop to this killing once again."

Morimoto said that common sense needs to be brought into the discussions over commercial whaling. "Many whale stocks in the world today are abundant and commercial whaling can be managed on a sustainable basis, while conserving real threatened species - such as the blue whale - based on evidence derived from scientific research."

"Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd want you to think that whales are endangered, but nothing could be further from the truth," he said. "A commercial whaling regime could be undertaken tomorrow in a manner that would ensure whale populations continue to grow and allow current and future generations of the world to enjoy the grace of the ocean forever."

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