A group of radical anti-whaling activists said they were pelted with bloody chunks of whale meat and blubber after their boat collided Friday with a Japanese whaling vessel in a dramatic Antarctic Ocean clash Japan condemned as "unforgivable." ...more

February 7, 2009

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. ...more

November 24, 2008

In this season of political polarization, it is rare to find a massive issue on which we all agree. But thar' she blows! From sea to shining sea and across the political spectrum, Americans love whales. Polls conducted over the past decade consistently show overwhelming majorities of Republicans, Democrats and Independents want these magnificent creatures protected for future generations; voters of all persuasions and subgroups - from rural, conservative GOP-types, to urban, liberal Democrats - want our government to take action to end resurgent commercial whaling by Japan, Iceland and Norway. ...more

September 15, 2008

Japan, under pressure from the United States and Australia, is delaying plans to kill 50 humpback whales as part of its already contentious annual whale harvest in waters near Antarctica. ...more

December 22, 2007

A defiant Japan embarked on its largest whaling expedition in decades Sunday, targeting protected humpbacks for the first time since the 1960s despite international opposition. An anti-whaling protest boat awaited the fleet offshore. ...more

November 19, 2007

A whale's bleeding carcass bobbed in the surf, a steel harpoon jutting from its side. Butchers in this Japanese fishing village then went to work, turning a motorized winch to haul the beast ashore. ...more

November 18, 2007