Sometimes your day doesn't end like it starts. We have been searching for the whalers for days now. This morning we woke to a dense fog and light snow. With visibility at about one mile there was no way the chopper could go up, and no chance of finding the whalers. Then, to our disbelief, first one, then another, then another, moving blips showed up on our radar. It was the whaling fleet, and they were headed our way.

The Japanese government sponsored whaling fleet has five ships. Three catcher (whale hunting) ships, a spotter (like a catcher, but without the harpoon) and a giant factory ship (where they process the whales). As usual, the spotter was not with the rest of the fleet.

First Yuko, our campaigner from Greenpeace Japan, radioed the Nisshin Maru, but was met with silence. Quickly, we launched the Mermaid - one of our speedboats - to intercept the nearest catcher.

On board was, Mehdi (as driver), Clive, Sarah, our photo and video guys, and Yuko - who had only been in a boat once before today. Yuko had a hand written message she wanted to deliver to the crew of the whale hunting ship. The message (in Japanese) explained why commercial whaling must be stopped, and declared our commitment to the principles of non-violence.

The catcher immediately stopped whaling and fled into the ice where our small speedboat couldn't follow. The Nisshin Maru also moved into some ice, and began to run.

We picked up the Mermaid and began to chase the factory ship through the ice. Although the whaling ships are faster then us, the Sunrise is an icebreaker, which gives us an edge once in the pack.

By 5.00pm we were out of the ice and within seven miles of the factory ship. Both of our bigger speedboats (the Hurricane and the Mermaid) were in the water and away by 5.15. Yuko again wanted to try to make contact with the whalers.

Yuko describes what happened next..

So then I was not too surprised that when I called them on the radio I heard my own voice on their loud speakers. I thought, "yes!" because I had been trying very hard to talk to them. It was good that everyone on the Nisshian Maru could hear me, maybe on the catchers too (through the radio).

I didn't have any script. I just said what came to my mind. To start, I wanted to say hi and introduce myself. First impressions should not be a lecture. So, I spoke very casually. I said take care - it's very cold and we are cold too. Stay warm. We will have a radio show for you at some point - so listen.

Then I added a little bit about why Greenpeace is opposed to whaling. Greenpeace looks at whaling as an over-hunting problem. This is not an animal rights or emotional view; it's not because they are cute or intelligent. Greenpeace cares about the ecosystem of ocean and whale is part of that ecosystem and an important resource of the Earth.

Also, the Hurricane had a banner in Spanish that read, "Stop commercial whaling." I said to the whalers, "Stop commercial whaling - many countries oppose this whaling, it's a world wide issue."