Hello EveryOne:

11/19/07
The Japanese whaling fleet departed from Shimonoseki, Japan - {see placemark} - this past weekend, for their annual whale hunt in the Antarctic. Their fleet consists of six vessels, among which are:
----- Nisshin Maru (whaling factory ship)
----- Oriental Bluebird (fuel tanker for the whalers)
----- Kaiko Maru (whale spotting ship)
----- Kyo (or Kyoshin) Maru No. 1 (whale 'sampling' or capturing ship)
----- Yushin Maru (whale 'sampling' ship)

One of their adversaries, Greenpeace's ship Esperanza, is reportedly lying in wait off Japan to follow the whalers on their way to their whaling grounds in the Antarctia. Greenpeace states that they intend to interupt the whale hunt with non-violent tactics . Japan's other old adversary, SeaShepherd Society and it's President Paul Watson will, according to their website , soon embark with an international crew on their ship, the Robert Hunter, to interdict the Japanese whalers (which SeaShepherds refers to as an outlaw whaling fleet) .

The SeaShepherd Society has named their 2007-2008 anti-whaling campaign: Operation Migaloo, after the all-white humpback whale Migaloo (which has captured the hearts of Australians after it summered off Australia this year).

Thus the scene is being set for confrontation, just as it was a year ago, between these groups.

Japan announced their self-imposed quotas of up to 50 humpback whales, up to 50 fin whales, and up to 935 Antarctic minke whales in a report they submitted to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) earlier this year. This will be the first time that humpbacks have been hunted since a 1963 moratorium put humpbacks under international protection. Humpbacks are currently listed as a vulnerable species on the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List. The American Cetacean Society estimates the global humpback population at 30,000-40,000 - about a third of the number before modern whaling.

The Japanese announcement that humpbacks will be hunted has spawned protests, especially in Australia, which asked for assurances that Japan will not harpoon any all-white humpbacks (e.g.;Migaloo). Japan did not reply, which raised the level of anger among many Australians.

This Japanese hunt will be the largest "scientific" whale hunt ever held in the South Pacific since the start of the moratorium. (They call it a scientific whale hunt as they conduct this hunt under treaty provisions which allow a limited amount of whaling for scientific research. All whale meat taken by Japan is sold in Japanese food stores or served in Japanese restaurants, or used in dog food.)

I hope I got this right - it is a complicated issue and easy to misunderstand. If you see mistakes in this post, please add a post and correct me, or send me a PM and tell me about it, and I will correct this post (but please include references.)

Last year one man died in a fire aboard the Nissan Maru (apparently not connected to any antiwhaling activities.). Let's hope that no one is injured during this year's hunt!

hale

11/19/07 - edited for spelling and accuracy.
12/02/07 - edited for completeness.