A mother whale and her calf are dragged on board a Japanese ship after being harpooned in Antarctic waters in February. Japanese whalers returned to port this week after taking barely half their intended catch.
Credit: AFP
TOKYO: Japan's whalers began arriving home this week after killing little more than half their intended catch due to high-seas clashes with activists.
Japanese officials said they were considering legal action against militant protesters who disrupted the five-month Antarctic voyage. But they declared the mission a success despite the lower-than-expected haul, vowing to continue the annual hunt despite diplomatic pressure by anti-whaling countries led by Australia.
Escorted by patrol boats, the 8,044-tonne Nisshin Maru mother ship with 143 crew on board docked at a heavily guarded Tokyo port early on Tuesday.
The fleet of six vessels killed a total of 551 whales, less than its original target of about 950 whales, including 50 humpbacks.
Collision course
Nisshin Maru captain Tomoyuki Ogawa said he felt a "real danger of collision" when the fleet was earlier pursued by the protesters and a patrol boat was sent by Australia to monitor the Japanese mission. "I want (protesters) to stop any acts which threaten people's lives and the safety of ships," he said.
Demonstrators on a Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship threw what they described as stink bombs filled with rancid butter onto the decks of the whaling ships. Japan, which says the bombs contained acid that stings the eyes, fired warning flash grenades at the activists. Two protesters also boarded a whaling factory ship, resulting in a two-day standoff.
Unforgivable act
"The disturbances were an unforgivable act," said Shigeki Takaya, assistant director of Japan's Fisheries Agency whaling bureau. "We will take preventive measures, resorting to legal procedures and gaining international cooperation.
"But we can call the mission a success as we were able to pursue our research," Takaya said. "We want to firmly continue whaling, which is based on an international treaty and scientific grounds."
No major protests were staged as the mother ship docked, but four members of the environment group Greenpeace sailed past the vessel with a banner that read: "Failed".
Dock workers unloaded leftover harpooning ammunition and frozen whale meat already processed on the ship to be sold at fish markets. Coastguard officials were seen boarding the main ship, whose hull was scratched and slightly dented, although it was unclear whether the damage was related to the high-seas clashes.
An inspection of the fleet and questioning of the crew over the incidents are likely to begin today, an official said.
Australia's stance
Meanwhile, Australia said it remained determined to end Japanese whaling. "It remains Australia's firm view that there is no scientific justification for Japan's whale hunt in the Southern Ocean," Foreign Affairs Minster Stephen Smith and Environment Minister Peter Garrett said in a joint statement. "The government's objective continues to be the cessation of whaling by Japan in the Southern Ocean."
The fleet had aimed to kill 850 minke whales and 50 fin whales on the mission. It dropped plans also to kill up to 50 humpbacks, beloved by whale-watchers.
Japan, which kills whales using a loophole in a 1986 whaling moratorium that allows "lethal research" on the giant mammals, says that it is monitoring whale numbers but makes no secret that the meat ends up on dinner tables.
"If it's aimed purely at research, why does Japan have to kill whales to sell?" said Junichi Sato, an anti-whaling campaigner at Greenpeace Japan. "If Japan really wants to secure leadership in the international community, ending whaling is a prerequisite."
Whale meat holds sentimental value for some Japanese who ate it after the devastation of World War II. Most Japanese have seldom eaten whale since the international moratorium was imposed, although it is regularly sold in curry and burgers.
Japanese whalers miss targets
Yeah!
Let them hunt
Will the madness ever stop? The whalers should have the ability to hunt for food as long as they do it on a manageable scale
This is the beginning of the end for Japanese whalers
In response to comment made by "Let them hunt". Do you think 950 whales is a manageable scale?!? Come on, who are we kidding here.
Sickened
CHange the loophole it is from 1986???? A mother and a calf, why are some Asians so inhumane, honestly, killing for research and profit from food, what kind of loophole is that, YES AUZZIES keep going don't even give up. Those whales need us to be their guardians. Growing up I saw Asian videos, of tigers with bloody stumps and paws cut off for $5000 Tiger Paw appetizers, ARE YOU F"N kidding me, these animals feel pain, fear, why on earth would it be ok to kill them for research? Do we kill humans to figure out the cure for cancer? This is outrageous, as a Canadian who grows up completely loving nature, I am sickened. The Japanese that are against this should FIGHT, hopefully a few whale killers were swallowed by that Tsunami, the lord works in mysterious ways!!!