A Japanese whaling fleet left on Sunday for an expedition activists say will for the first time target humpbacks, a perennial favourite among whale-watchers.
The Nisshin Maru, the 8000-tonne flagship of Japan's whaling fleet, left Shimonoseki port for the Antarctic along with catcher boats around midday, environmental group Greenpeace said, adding that others in the fleet were expected to follow soon.
Japanese fisheries officials were unavailable to confirm the fleet's departure on Sunday.
Japan, which says whaling is a cherished cultural tradition, abandoned commercial whaling in accordance with an international moratorium in 1986, but began the next year to conduct what it calls scientific research whaling.
Greenpeace said its Esperanza campaign ship was in waters off Japan, waiting to intersect the fleet in the coming days to demand that the expedition return home.
Failing that, the Esperanza also plans to follow the fleet into southern waters to protest the hunt.
"It's clearly commercial whaling in disguise and the aim for the Japanese government is to restart commercial whaling,'' Karli Thomas, the Esperanza's expedition leader, told Reuters by telephone from aboard the ship.
"There's a moratorium against commercial whaling, and that needs to be enforced.''
Whale meat, which under rules set by the International Whaling Commission must be sold for consumption, ends up in Japanese supermarkets and restaurants, but appetite for what is now a delicacy is fading.
http://search.smh.com.au/siteSearch.ac?q=whales&ss=smh
The Nisshin Maru, the 8000-tonne flagship of Japan's whaling fleet, left Shimonoseki port for the Antarctic along with catcher boats around midday, environmental group Greenpeace said, adding that others in the fleet were expected to follow soon.
Japanese fisheries officials were unavailable to confirm the fleet's departure on Sunday.
Japan, which says whaling is a cherished cultural tradition, abandoned commercial whaling in accordance with an international moratorium in 1986, but began the next year to conduct what it calls scientific research whaling.
Greenpeace said its Esperanza campaign ship was in waters off Japan, waiting to intersect the fleet in the coming days to demand that the expedition return home.
Failing that, the Esperanza also plans to follow the fleet into southern waters to protest the hunt.
"It's clearly commercial whaling in disguise and the aim for the Japanese government is to restart commercial whaling,'' Karli Thomas, the Esperanza's expedition leader, told Reuters by telephone from aboard the ship.
"There's a moratorium against commercial whaling, and that needs to be enforced.''
Whale meat, which under rules set by the International Whaling Commission must be sold for consumption, ends up in Japanese supermarkets and restaurants, but appetite for what is now a delicacy is fading.
http://search.smh.com.au/siteSearch.ac?q=whales&ss=smh
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