japan

A Greenpeace inflatable prevents the Nisshin Maru from being refuelled by the Oriental Bluebird © Greenpeace/Jiri Rezac

A few days ago, the Esperanza - which had been pursuing the Japanese whaling fleet for two weeks - was forced to quit the chase and head back to port as the ship is running low on fuel. But this year's Southern Ocean expedition has been a resounding success.

After eleven days successfully preventing the Japanese whaling fleet from killing whales in the Southern Ocean, the crew of the Esperanza were this morning able to inconvenience them still further by delaying the refuelling of their factory ship, the Nisshin Maru.

Here's the latest video update from Esperanza, on patrol in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary protecting fin and minke whales from whalers, plus a blog update from Dave, our intrepid onboard webbie:

Greenpeace campaigner Sakyo Noda contacts the Japanese whaling fleet

Good news from Esperanza, our ice-class vessel on patrol in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Yesterday the Espy had a face to face encounter with the Japanese whaling fleet's factory vessel, the Nisshin Maru, which was confronted close to the ice edge. As soon as they realised that we were in the area, the whalers put on speed and tried to get away.

After a high speed chase over hundreds of miles through fog and increasingly rough seas (see video clip below), the Esperanza this morning pursued the whalers north of the over the 60 degrees latitude mark - out of the Southern Ocean hunting grounds. The catcher vessel Yushin Maru also followed suit.

Earlier this week, Esperanza's crew awoke to find themselves surrounded by at least 50 humpback whales feeding in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Leandra, one of the scientists on-board, captured some rare and unique underwater sounds as part of our ongoing research programme.

The crew were also able to get closer to the whales using the ship's inflatables, and to shoot some wonderful footage of the humpbacks at very close range, both in and out of the water courtesy of ace videographer Gavin.

Personally I'm seriously jealous. If whale-watching is your thing (and how could it not be?) then it doesn't get any better than this!

Still no contact as yet between our ship Esperanza and the Japanese whaling fleet as the Espy heads further and further south on her mission to save as many minkes as possible from the whalers' harpoons. She's passing through some of the most glorious and unpolluted seascapes this world has to offer at the moment, though, and our photographers have been out and about in inflatables to capture the magic, so I thought I'd share a few with you.

Wow factor: In this shot it's hard not to be impressed by the sheer size of this ice cliff rising almost verically out of the sea.

The Japanese government has confirmed a rumour first reported at the Greenpeace weblog, that they've abandoned plans to kill humpback whales in the Southern Ocean this season.

The fact that no humpback whales will be hunted down and killed in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary this year is good news indeed, and a victory for Greenpeace supporters the world over who have joined with us in demanding action from their governments, participated in promoting non-lethal alternatives to whale research through our Great Whale Trail, and questioned the Japanese government directly about plans to expand the whale hunt through the building of a new whaling ship. (Oh, and all of you who told your friends to vote for Mister Splashy Pants in our whale-naming competition, you did your part too.)

Reuters has a new video report on the impacts of earthquake-struck Japan's recent nuclear accident, which means Kawashaki nuclear plant will be closed indefinitely:

Japan's killer earthquake left its biggest nuclear power company facing financial losses, supply questions, and demands for greater safety.

The video's here (there's an advert before the Reuters report starts).

After the conflicting reports about last week's earthquake in Japan, a Greenpeace team of nuclear and radiation experts headed over to Japan to check radiation levels on the ground.

Happily, most places the team checked around the plant didn't show signs of increased radioactivity, but they had a couple of bizarre moments along the way. Their diaries are on our international site.