Whalers’ toll tops 200
22/8/08
Japanese whaling ships caught 211 whales during their three-month voyage in the northwest Pacific, the fisheries agency said. The main ship of the six-vessel fleet, 8044-ton Nisshin-maru, will arrive in Tokyo on Saturday, with the rest returning to their ports by the end of the month, the agency said. Since they left on June 6, the ships caught 100 sei whales, 59 minke whales, 50 Bryde’s whales and two sperm whales, the agency said Friday. The Japanese government, which says whaling is part of the national culture, plans to kill around 1000 whales a year using a loophole in a 1986 international moratorium that allows “lethal research” on whales.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24226907-12335,00.html
Tags: Australia, Environment, Japan, Pacific