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Whale Hunters, Foes Set To Clash

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The New York Times

Published: November 24, 2008

HONG KONG - Quietly, without the usual bon voyage fanfare and Buddhist blessings, a Japanese whaling ship set sail last week on its yearly hunt for the great whales of the Southern Ocean. If the hunting is good, the ship, Nisshin Maru, will haul in more than 1,000 whales.

Meanwhile, at the Rivergate Marina in Brisbane, Australia, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is preparing its own ship, the Steve Irwin, for its annual oceangoing battle with the Japanese whaler. The ship is set to sail this weekend.

Past confrontations have been dramatic, dangerous, even violent. There have been collisions and rammings, forced boardings, the fouling of propellers, the firing of stink bombs and stun grenades, even allegations of gunplay.

Here's a look at the whaling battles:
WHALING RULES
•The International Whaling Commission, with 82 nations as members, banned commercial whaling in 1986.

•Some native and aboriginal groups are permitted to hunt whales for food; Norway and Iceland have since objected to the moratorium and continue to hunt whales.

•International law also allows whaling for scientific purposes, and Japan uses this codicil to license its deep-water whalers. They mostly hunt minke whales, but also fin whales, which are listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

JAPAN AND WHALING

•Whaling took hold in Japan after World World II.

•With Japan on the verge of starvation and winter coming on, Gen. Douglas MacArthur requisitioned ships for whaling expeditions.

•Whaling provided an important part of the Japanese diet for 10 years.

•Surveys show that the idea of whaling still resonates for some Japanese, especially older men.

OPPOSITION

Sea Shepherd

•Sea Shepherd, with a crew that includes American actress Daryl Hannah, promises big surprises and new tactics for the Japanese fleet. The group has been labeled eco-terrorists.

•Sea Shepherd will not have the support and backing of Greenpeace in this year's battle.

•The loss of Greenpeace infuriates Paul Watson, the Sea Shepherd founder and the captain of the Steve Irwin. "I call them 'the other whaling industry,' " he said in a telephone interview Friday from Brisbane, Australia. "They've raised millions of dollars off the whales for this campaign - and now they're not sending a boat. They should be ashamed."

Greenpeace

•For the first time in four years, Greenpeace is not sending a ship to help harass the whalers.

•Greenpeace will concentrate on a court case in Japan involving two of its activists along with a campaign to turn Japanese opinion against whaling.

•The group is changing tactics because militancy has generated a backlash in Japan and the success of the Japanese Fisheries Agency at convincing the Japanese that Westerners have no right to tell them what they can eat.

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