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Activists Celebrate Christmas Saving Whales

SOUTHERN OCEAN - Greenpeace activists onboard the MV Arctic Sunrise spent Christmas day saving whales, using inflatable boats, a water pump and their own bodies to disrupt and delay the Japanese whaling fleet operating illegally in Antarctica.

Greenpeace has been tracking the Japanese whaling fleet for six days through the icy waters of the internationally recognised Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Bad weather conditions and poor visibility have kept the fleet from hunting whales for past two days. But when the fleet began operating again on Christmas morning, Greenpeace took action to disrupt them.

Japan’s whaling fleet is in violation of articles 65 and 120 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas, (UNCLOS) which require all states to cooperate with the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in the matter of whale protection.

The IWC has repeatedly called on Japan to stop whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, and has also found that the data collected from Japan’s so-called “scientific” whaling program is not required for whale management.

This year Japan intends to hunt 440 Minke whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in the name of “scientific research”. However the whale meat produced by the 'research' is sold on the open market in Japan.

The activists inside the inflatable were: Richard Pearson (Australian), Frank Kamp (Dutch) and Zeger Zel (Dutch).