A fleet of Japanese ships is to start whaling in the Antarctic by exploiting a loophole in an international agreement, Greenpeace said today.
The fleet, due to set sail shortly, is claiming that they are whaling for scientific research. However, according to Greenpeace, they are instead hunting whale meat to sell on the open market.
Willie Mackenzie, Greenpeace Oceans Campaigner, said: "The Government of Japan must call a halt to this.
"They continue to pretend that they are carrying out scientific research, but in reality the International Whaling Committee has asked them not to do it. The scientists have repeatedly said they don't need the data. This is simply commercial whaling by another name."
The whaling is to be conducted on a population that may be in decline. Scientists are unable to agree how many of these whales remain.
The Icelandic Government restarted whaling this autumn and plan to continue and expand the hunt in the coming years. Greenpeace strongly opposes this programme and has offered to help the Government promote whale watching and nature tourism in Iceland if whaling is stopped.
