Japan urged to recall whaling fleet - Guardian

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

11.15am
Japan urged to recall whaling fleet

· Humpbacks hunted for first time since 1963
· 'Scientific' hunting claims disputed
· Campaigners accuse fleet of underhand tactics

Justin McCurry in Tokyo
Monday November 19, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

New Zealand and Australia today called for a Japanese
whaling fleet to return to port a day after it set off
for the southern ocean whale sanctuary vowing to
slaughter more than 1,000 whales.

Among the targets of the hunt, which is being carried
out in the name of scientific research, are 50 protected
humpbacks.

The demand follows international protest at the fleet's
departure yesterday. Britain is one of several other
countries to have condemned the expedition, which will
see humpbacks killed for the first time since they
became a protected species more than 40 years ago.

Helen Clark, the New Zealand prime minister, said the
fleet should have stayed at home, and condemned the
expedition as commercial whaling in the guise of
scientific research.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/japan/story/0,,2213530,00.html