Around November, 2005, a fleet of 6 Japanese whaling ships headed for the Southern Ocean. They had a quota of 940 minke whales and 10 fin whales. Environmental activist groups Greenpeace and Sea Shepard sent ships to intercept and disrupt them. The next few months saw many confrontations on the ocean, including collisions and the use of water cannons. The three protest ships ended their action and headed home on January 23.
The Japanese whaling fleet is reportedly heading into the seas around Antarctica, drawing widespread condemnation from campaigners. Japan's fleet of six ships left the port of Shimonoseki, western Japan with a quota of 940 minke whales and 10 fin whales. Calls for the Australian government to intervene have been rejected by the environment minister, Senator Ian Campbell. Japan's whaling program, which is claimed to be for scientific purposes, is expected to kill nearly one thousand whales this season.
The environmental activist group Greenpeace has attempted to disrupt Japan's Southern Ocean "scientific" whaling fleet. After searching for the whaling fleet for nearly a month, the Greenpeace ships, MY Esperanza and MY Arctic Sunrise, are floating alongside the Japanese mothership in Australia's Antarctic territorial waters, directly south of Tasmania.
A Japanese whaling ship, the Keiko Maru, will be docking in Hobart on December 24 to transfer a sick crew member to hospital. The crew member is suffering from appendicitis. Greenpeace has called on the Australian government to prevent the ship from refuelling. The government stated it is opposed to commercial whaling, but that taking such action would be "counter-productive". Greenpeace CEO Steve Shallhorn said that it is an opportunity for Australia to demonstrate its opposition. "The Australian Government does have control over port authorities and we believe it does have the possibility to refuse to allow the ship to be refuelled," he said.
The international environmental organisation, Greenpeace, have been shadowing a Japanese whaling fleet currently operating in the Southern Ocean in Australian Antarctic Territory. They claim a minor victory against the six-vessel fleet, saying no whales have been killed since Christmas Eve. However they expect a resumption of whaling and protest activity soon.
Anti-whaling protesters have joined forces across Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and the U.S.A calling for an end to the killing of whales for meat by Japan. Greenpeace organised the international day of action as it continued its efforts to disrupt the hunting of minke whales by the Japanese whaling fleet currently in the Southern Ocean.
Anti-whaling activists are heading home after a month of pestering the Japanese whaling fleet near Antarctica. With dwindling food and fuel supplies, the Greenpeace ships Arctic Sunrise and Esperanza are heading for Cape Town. The Sea Shepherd's Farley Mowat has also left the area due to a refuelling cancellation. Greenpeace say they will focus the campaign to shed light on the commercial whaling industry.
After seven weeks in the Southern Ocean disrupting the Japanese whaling fleet, a Canadian registered anti-whaling ship, the Farley Mowat, has been detained by South African authorities. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel, it's captain Paul Watson and his crew, have been detained indefinitely. The Farley Mowat, which sailed from Melbourne, Australia on December 6, was detained in Cape Town harbour, following a request from the Canadian government. A SAMSA official said the ship did not have the required certification.
