ANIMAL FORUM

> Australian ship seeks out whalers
> An Australian patrol ship tasked with monitoring Japans whaling fleet
> has departed from the western city of Perth for waters off Antarctica.
> The Oceanic Viking, a customs vessel, left Stirling Naval Base on
> Tuesday night on a 20-day surveillance mission.
>
> It will collect photographic and video material for a possible legal
> challenge against the whalers, Australian officials have said.
>
> Japans fleet began its annual whale hunt in mid-November.
>
> It plans to kill about 900 minke whales and 50 fin whales by mid-April
> 2008 as part of what it calls a scientific research programme.
>
> But it has suspended plans to kill 50 humpback whales, amid a storm of
> international criticism.
>
> Legal challenge
>
> Acting against the whalers was one of the new Labor-led Australian
> governments election pledges.
>
>
> An Airbus A-319 will also conduct surveillance flights over the fleet.
>
> Evidence from the vessels would be used to help Canberra decide if it
> could take action against the whalers in international courts, Foreign
> Minister Stephen Smith said last month.
>
> On Monday he rejected criticism that the government had delayed
> deploying the ship to ease diplomatic tensions with Japan.
>
> All of the decisions that were made in respect of the Oceanic Viking
> have been made on the basis of maximising the potential of 20 days of
> successful activity, he told journalists in Perth.
>
> There are deep divisions between Australia and Japan on the issue of
> whaling.
>
> Japan says it kills whales for the purpose of scientific research,
> something permitted under a clause in International Whaling Commission
> rules.
>
> But Australia and other nations say the same research goals could be
> achieved using non-lethal methods, and call the research programme a
> front for commercial whaling.
>
> Boats from environmental group Greenpeace and the more radical Sea
> Shepherd group are also tracking the Japanese fleet.
>
> Sea Shepherd says its activists will attempt to intercept the ships.
>
>

>Sorry if this sounds a bit stiff-necked, but the only vote I have is with my
>wallet.

>
>Adenoid Hynkel . wrote in message
>news:lepco3pbc20ia0vbjp0vueno84ql2fnan4@4ax.com...
>> Australian ship seeks out whalers
>> An Australian patrol ship tasked with monitoring Japans whaling fleet
>> has departed from the western city of Perth for waters off Antarctica.
>> The Oceanic Viking, a customs vessel, left Stirling Naval Base on
>> Tuesday night on a 20-day surveillance mission.
>>
>> It will collect photographic and video material for a possible legal
>> challenge against the whalers, Australian officials have said.
>>
>> Japans fleet began its annual whale hunt in mid-November.
>>
>> It plans to kill about 900 minke whales and 50 fin whales by mid-April
>> 2008 as part of what it calls a scientific research programme.
>>
>> But it has suspended plans to kill 50 humpback whales, amid a storm of
>> international criticism.
>>
>> Legal challenge
>>
>> Acting against the whalers was one of the new Labor-led Australian
>> governments election pledges.
>>
>>
>> An Airbus A-319 will also conduct surveillance flights over the fleet.
>>
>> Evidence from the vessels would be used to help Canberra decide if it
>> could take action against the whalers in international courts, Foreign
>> Minister Stephen Smith said last month.
>>
>> On Monday he rejected criticism that the government had delayed
>> deploying the ship to ease diplomatic tensions with Japan.
>>
>> All of the decisions that were made in respect of the Oceanic Viking
>> have been made on the basis of maximising the potential of 20 days of
>> successful activity, he told journalists in Perth.
>>
>> There are deep divisions between Australia and Japan on the issue of
>> whaling.
>>
>> Japan says it kills whales for the purpose of scientific research,
>> something permitted under a clause in International Whaling Commission
>> rules.
>>
>> But Australia and other nations say the same research goals could be
>> achieved using non-lethal methods, and call the research programme a
>> front for commercial whaling.
>>
>> Boats from environmental group Greenpeace and the more radical Sea
>> Shepherd group are also tracking the Japanese fleet.
>>
>> Sea Shepherd says its activists will attempt to intercept the ships.
>>
>>
>Considering that the Japanese have been killing whales for scientific
>research for at least 30 years that I can recall, can they tell us what
>theyve learned? Do they publish papers about whales? Can we all read about
>their findings somewhere? Or havent they learned anything, so theyll have
>to go on and on and on....
>
>I thought that the Southern Ocean was a protected area, a whale sanctuary.
>Has this changed recently? If not, I hope the Australians press charges as
>hard as they can. Good luck to Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd for trying to
>chase these killers away.
>
>I was thinking about a holiday to Japan later this year. Im sure its a
>very interesting country, but Ive now decided not to spend my mega-bucks
>there. Iceland is another place where I would like to go but wont.
>
>Sorry if this sounds a bit stiff-necked, but the only vote I have is with my
>wallet.