Low fuel forces Greenpeace to abandon Whaling Fleet

While the Nisshin Maru has been on the move no whales were able to be hunted and slaughtered. The Nisshin Maru refueled illegally from the Panama registered Oriental Bluebird in the Antarctic Treaty Zone.

Greenpeace will continue it's anti-whaling campaigns, particularly in Japan. In just 48 hours more than 20,000 people emailed Fujio Mitarai, the CEO of Canon, demanding that he use his unique position as head of the Japanese Business Federation, to pressure the government to stop whaling in the Southern Ocean.

With the Esperanza leaving the Southern Ocean the whaling fleet is still being tailed by the Australian Government surveillance vessel Oceanic Viking, with Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin somewhere in the vicinity being tailed by the Fukuyoshi Maru No. 68.

New Zealand warns Whaling Fleet

A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K Orion sighted the Japanese whaling fleet travelling towards the Ross Sea. “The Orion was undertaking routine surveillance against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in the Southern Ocean in support of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources’ inspection system." said New Zealand's Conservation Minister Steve Chadwick.

According to some media reports Japan agreed last year under an International Whaling Commission protocol to only hunt in Australian waters this year.

The Ross Sea is part of New Zealand’s search and rescue area of responsibility. “New Zealand is strongly opposed to Japan’s whaling in the Southern Ocean. At the same time, the safety of human life at sea is a responsibility New Zealand takes very seriously. We are also deeply concerned about the risk to human life and to Antarctica’s pristine marine environment, should the Japanese whaling fleet encounter problems at sea,” Steve Chadwick said.

Last season in the Ross Sea area the Nisshin Maru had a fire on board which damaged the ship and killed one crew member.

Chadwick said that due to public interest in this issue, if the whaling fleet is found in New Zealand's search and rescue area, the images of the fleet will be released to media as soon as they can be processed, but without co-ordinates.

Sources:

• Esperanza weblog, Jan 26, 2008 - We leave the Nisshin Maru
• Greenpeace News, Jan 24, 2008 - Does Canon support shooting whales?
• Scoop Press Release: New Zealand Government, Jan 25, 2008 Whaling Fleet Near NZ's Search & Rescue Zone
• TV3 News, Jan 25, 2008 - Japanese whalers heading towards NZ controlled waters
• Photo credit: SOUTHERN OCEAN ESPERANZA 18 JANUARY 2008 - Japanese whaling fleet and Greenpeace ship Esperanza in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. The Greenpeace ship Esperanza has been pursuing the whaling fleet's factory vessel Nisshin Maru since January 12, effectively disabling the entire whaling operation. (C) GREENPEACE/REZAC 2008