Greenpeace volunteers today used inflatable boats to interfere with a Japanese whaling fleet illegally hunting Minke whales inside the internationally recognised whale sanctuary that surrounds Antarctica.
The inflatable boats were launched from the Greenpeace vessel MV Arctic Sunrise at 08.00 local time (02.00GMT) and drove two hours across icy Antarctic waters to block the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru from loading a harpooned whale from a catcher ship. The Southern Ocean around Antarctica was formally designated a whale sanctuary in 1994 by the International Whaling Commission (IWC), making the region permanently off limits to commercial whaling. However, despite repeated calls from the IWC to cancel its whaling programme, Japan began hunting in the Sanctuary last month, intending to kill 440 Minke whales (up from 389 last year) as part of a so-called 'scientific research' programme.
By ignoring the IWC request to stop whaling in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary, Japan is in breach of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which requires all countries to co-operate with the IWC in the conservation of whales.
Richard Page, Greenpeace whaling campaigner, said:
"Japan has placed itself outside of the law by refusing to co-operate with the relevant international authorities. While Greenpeace does all it can at sea to stop this illegal activity, it is the responsibility of the world's governments to ensure that Japan is prevented from trampling international laws. The time has come for Tony Blair to do all he personally can to stop Japan's illegal whaling in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary."
Greenpeace has called on national governments to demand that the Japanese government cancel its illegal Antarctic whaling programme. To date the UK , US, Australian and New Zealand governments have all pressed Japan to cease whaling in the Antarctic sanctuary.
Notes to editors:
The activists inside the inflatable are Frank Kamp (Netherlands), Daniel Rizzotti (Argentina), Yasuhiro Ito (Japan).
Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255
