7th December, 2013 – Hobart, Australia
Japan sets its
sights on Australian Minke whales like “Spot”
The
Japanese Whale Poaching Fleet has left Japan, setting sail
for the Australian Antarctic Whale Sanctuary. The factory
vessel, the Nisshin Maru left Innoshima port today and the
refueling vessel, the Sun Laurel, left a couple of days
prior. The harpoon ships no longer have their AIS (Automatic
Identification System) on and appears are underway as
well.
Japan is not waiting for the International Court
Case result.
Their mission is to brutally kill 1035
whales, comprising of 935 Protected Minke, 50 Endangered Fin
and 50 humpback whales. They plan to break Australian
Federal law banning the slaughter of whales in the
Australian Whale Sanctuary.
Sea Shepherd’s mission is to
intercept the poachers from Japan before a single whale is
killed and restore the integrity of the Southern Ocean Whale
Sanctuary.
Australian scientists recently tracked a minke
whale from the Great Barrier Reef deep into the
sub-antarctic for the first time. A tracking program on
dwarf minke whales, the focus of growing reef tourism,
followed one nicknamed “Spot” deep into the Southern Ocean
before its tag expired.
“What is clear is that whales
like “Spot” that call Australia home, that Australians and
tourists from all over the world have experienced and
eyeballed in the Great Barrier Reef, face imminent threat
from a grenade tipped harpoon from Japan. The only hope that
whales like Spot have is brave crews of Sea Shepherd.” -
Jeff Hansen, Managing Director, Sea Shepherd Australia.
“The Japanese whaling fleet is likely to arrive in the
Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary before the new year. I expect
to celebrate New Years Eve on the slipway of the whaling
factory ship, after completely shut down their illegal
whaling operations.” – Bob Barker Captain Peter
Hammarstedt
“Once again the Japanese Whaling Fleet shows
complete disregard for the international community, because
despite the pending ruling at the International Court of
Justice in the Hague, the Institute for Cetacean Research
will once again attempt to kill over 1000 whales. For the
tenth year, Sea Shepherd will be the only form of defence
for the whales.” – Alex Cornelissen, Global Executive
Officer Sea Shepherd
“The Japanese whaling fleet’s
departure for the Southern Ocean is once again in the face
of International opposition, a pending International Court
of Justice ruling and in violation of Australia’s federal
court order. The only thing that stands between their
illegal slaughter and the whales are three Sea Shepherd
ships. With legality, morality and the public opinion on our
side, we will soon depart from Australia to meet the whale
poachers off the ice edge of Antarctica and we will not
return until we drive the Nisshin Maru out of the whale
sanctuary” – Steve Irwin Captain Siddharth Chakravarty
Sea Shepherd Australia has informed the Minister for the
Environment, The Hon. Greg Hunt, that the whale poachers are
on their way.
We have 23 nationalities, from every
continent, represented on board including: United Kingdom,
Ireland, Bermuda, Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden,
Finland, Germany, Hungary, Czech Republic, United States,
Canada, Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, India, Ghana, Singapore,
Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Each year Japan has
been escalating their violence not only against the whales,
but also against Sea Shepherd’s international crew. With
no repercussions from the Australian Government, Japan has
effectively been given a green light to do whatever it wants
with no respect for life.
Over 100 crew (37 are
Australian) consisting of 23 nationalities are counting on
the Abbott Government to live up to their per-election
promise and send a customs vessel.
The time for the
Australian Government to send a vessel is
now!
ENDS
Japanese killing fleet sets sail for Whale Sanctury
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