14 DAY TRIAL // The Japanese whaling fleet, which departed for its Antarctic hunting grounds in secrecy last year, has recently returned to port in shame, having only been able to capture little over a half its whale target of 950 minke whales and 50 humpbacks. Largely thanks to the efforts of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS), the six-ship fleet was only able to cull 679 minke whales, and just one fin, as opposed to the November target of 50. The Nisshin Maru mother-ship entered the Tokyo port under heavy guard from military ships, meant to discourage any protest.
As the 8,044-tonne, 143-crew vessel entered the port, it was only protested against by four Greenpeace members, who sailed past in a raft, holding a banner that simply said “Failed.” While Japanese officials declared the season a success, it was only to save some face that they did so.
It was a disastrous season, as Sea Shepherd relentlessly followed the ships in the Antarctic, colliding with them and engaging in acts of what the Japanese have termed “terrorism.” In all fairness, it was the whalers that pointed water guns and flash grenades at the protesters, who only threw “stink” bombs at the whaling ships.
“The disturbances were an unforgivable act. We will take preventive measures, resorting to legal procedures and gaining international cooperation. But we can call the mission a success as we were able to pursue our research. We want to firmly continue whaling, which is based on an international treaty and scientific grounds,” Japan's Fisheries Agency whaling bureau Assistant Director Shigeki Takaya said. His lies reflect that of the country's government, which continues to pretend that the whale hunt is just for scientific purposes.
Countries such as Australia and groups such as the SSCS have long since attracted attention to the fact that Japan is lying about the objectives of the hunt, and say that the Asian nation is exploiting a loophole left in a UN Charter banning international commercial whaling. While Japan claims that it's using the captured whales for research, the meat almost inevitably goes onto supermarkets' shelves, where it is sold to the general public. And, by all books, that is called a commercial purpose.
“It remains Australia's firm view that there is no scientific justification for Japan's whale hunt in the Southern Ocean. The government's objective continues to be the cessation of whaling by Japan in the Southern Ocean,” Australia's Foreign Affairs Minster Stephen Smith and Environment Minister Peter Garrett stated in a joint statement, as quoted by cosmosmagazine. Most of Japan's “research” is conducted in waters South of Australia, which have been declared economic-free zones. Still, the country disregards all international norms and continues to hunt whales under the most juvenile of pretenses.