Japanese fleet to hunt humpback whales for first time in decades

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Nov 17, 10:48 AM EST

 

Japanese fleet to hunt humpback whales for first time

in decades

 

By HIROKO TABUCHI

 

Associated Press Writer

 

SHIMONOSEKI, Japan (AP) -- A Japanese whaling fleet

was set to leave this southern port Sunday for the

country's biggest-ever whale hunt in the South Pacific

that will kill humpback whales for the first time in

decades.

 

The whalers have orders to capture up to 50 humpback

whales - the first known large-scale hunt for the

species since a 1963 moratorium put the giant marine

mammals under international protection.

 

The new hunt is certain to renew Japan's angry

standoff with anti-whaling forces. Greenpeace and the

animal rights activist group Sea Shepherd have said

they will track the South Pacific hunt.

 

Four ships including the lead craft, the 8,044-ton

Nisshin Maru, are due to leave Sunday morning from

Shimonoseki, said a news release from Japan's

Fisheries Agency.

 

Two observation ships left northern Japan on Wednesday

and will accompany the fleet to the waters off

Antarctica, the agency said.

 

Along with the humpbacks, the mission that runs

through April will also take up to 935 Antarctic minke

whales and up to 50 fin whales in their largest

scientific whale hunt ever held in the South Pacific,

according to the Fisheries Agency.

 

But it is the plan to hunt the humpback - a favorite

among whale-watchers for its distinctive knobby head,

intelligence and out-of-the-water acrobatics - that

has triggered environmentalists' condemnation.

 

" These whales don't have to die, " said a Greenpeace

spokesman, Junichi Sato. " Humpbacks are very sensitive

and live in close-knit pods. So even one death can be

extremely damaging. "

 

Humpback whales were hunted to near-extinction four

decades ago. They have been off-limits since 1963,

except for a few caught under a subsistence program by

Greenland and the Caribbean nation of Saint Vincent

and the Grenadines. Each caught one humpback last

year, according to the International Whaling

Commission.

 

The former Soviet Union defied the ban and hunted

humpbacks until 1973. It is disputed how many were

killed.

 

Scientists say humpback whales are intelligent

creatures that communicate through lengthy " songs. "

 

Although they grow up to 48 feet long and weigh as

much as 40 tons, they are extremely acrobatic, often

throwing themselves out of the water, swimming on

their backs with both flippers in the air, or slapping

the water with their tails.

 

The American Cetacean Society estimates the global

humpback population at 30,000-40,000 - about a third

of the number before modern whaling. The species is

listed as " vulnerable " by the World Conservation

Union.

 

Japanese fisheries officials insist, however, that the

animals' population has returned to a sustainable

level.

 

" Humpback whales in our research area are rapidly

recovering, " said the Fisheries Agency's whaling

chief, Hideki Moronuki. " Taking 50 humpbacks from a

population of tens of thousands will have no

significant impact whatsoever. "

 

He said killing whales lets marine biologists study

their internal organs. Ovaries provide vital clues to

reproductive systems, earwax indicates age, and

stomach contents reveal eating habits, he said.

 

Meat from Japan's scientific catch is sold

commercially, as permitted by the IWC, but Japanese

officials deny that profit is a goal.

 

Japan also argues that whaling is a tradition in its

country that dates back to the early 1600s, and Tokyo

has pushed unsuccessfully at the IWC to reverse the

1986 commercial whaling moratorium.

 

Environmentalists claim that Japan's research program

is a pretext for keeping the whaling industry alive.

 

Japan accuses activists of " environmental terrorism. "

After its last Antarctic hunt, the government released

video of protesters launching smoke canisters from a

Sea Shepherd ship and dropping ropes and nets to

entangle the Japanese ships' propellers.

 

" We call them terrorists because they engage in

blatant terrorism, " Moronuki said. " We don't want

violence. ... All Japan wants is to find a sustainable

way to hunt a very precious marine resource. "

 

Environmentalists have long campaigned for an end to

the winter catch in the Southern Ocean and a North

Pacific mission that kills about 100 minke whales a

year.

 

Scientists note that humpbacks migrate to the southern

seas from breeding grounds around the world.

 

" Some breeding grounds are not recovering to the same

extent as others, " said whale biologist Ken Findlay at

the University of Cape Town in South Africa. " While

the catch may be small, we're not sure where they come

from. That's a real concern. "

 

Environmentalists also are critical of the harpooning

methods Japan's fleet uses. Ships sometimes chase

wounded whales for hours, Findlay said.

 

Japan's hunt comes after last year's whaling mission

to the South Pacific was cut short by a deadly fire on

board the Nisshin Maru that killed a crew member and

left the ship temporarily crippled.

 

The accident prompted strong protests from the New

Zealand government and from Greenpeace over the risk

of an oil spill in the pristine Antarctic waters.

 

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