ACTIVIST JUMPS INTO FREEZING ANTARCTIC WATERS TO DISRUPT ILLEGAL WHALING

20 December 1999

SOUTHERN OCEAN, 11.30hrs (05.30hrs GMT): A Greenpeace activist jumped from an inflatable boat into the icy waters of the Antarctic today in a bid to stop the transfer of a harpooned Minke whale from a Japanese catcher ship to the fleets’ factory ship for butchering.

The whale had been illegally hunted inside the internationally recognised whale sanctuary that surrounds Antarctica.

Dutch activist Frank Kamp, 36, twice jumped from an inflatable into the freezing Antarctic waters in an attempt to divert the whale transfer process, the first time jumping into the path of the factory ship Nisshin-maru and forcing it to change course; the second time climbing onto the back of the harpooned whale as it was dragged up the stern ramp of the factory ship. As catcher ships can only carry two harpooned whales at a time, disrupting the transfer is an effective way to prevent further hunting.

The Southern Ocean around Antarctica was formally declared a whale sanctuary in 1994 by the International Whaling Commission (IWC), making the region off limits to commercial whaling. However despite repeated requests from the IWC to cancel its whaling program Japan began hunting in the Sanctuary last month, intending to kill 440 Minke whales (up from 389 last year) as part of a so-called 'scientific research' program. The whale meat produced by the 'research' is sold on the open market in Japan, retailing for $US100 million.

By ignoring the IWC's requests to stop whaling in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary Japan is in breach of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which requires all countries to cooperate with the IWC in the conservation of whales. Greenpeace has called on national governments to demand that the Japanese government cancel its illegal Antarctic whaling program. To date British, US, Australian and New Zealand governments have pressed Japan to abandon the whaling program.

Other activists inside the inflatable were Daniel Rizzotti (Argentina), Yasuhiro Ito, (Japan) and Colin Russell (Australia).

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*STILLS AND FOOTAGE HAVE BEEN DISTRIBUTED TO INTERNATIONAL WIRES*
- stills: Franca Michienzi in Amsterdam +31 20 524 9580
- footage: Lucy Clayton in Amsterdam +31 20 524 9509.

- MV Artic Sunrise: John Bowler on-board the +873 624 453 210 (satellite rates)
- Sydney: Dima Litvinov +61 408 869 788 or +61 2 9263 0351.
- Amsterdam: Matilda Bradshaw +31 20 523 6608 or +31 20 6535 04701

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