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Antarctic whaling again

TOKYO: Japan has resumed its annual whale hunt in waters near Antarctica after anti-whaling activists stopped pursuing the country’s fleet.

Japan had halted its hunt in mid-January after confrontations with both Greenpeace and the militant anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd, a Japanese Fisheries Agency official said.

Late last month, the vessels each group had sent to pursue the whalers returned to port to refuel. The Japanese fleet decided to resume whaling after the threat of any interference faded, the official said.

Tokyo still plans to take about 900 Antarctic minke whales and up to 50 fin whales this season despite the interruption, said the chief of the Agency’s whaling section.

Paul Watson, captain of Sea Shepherd’s Steve Irwin, has said he and his crew are “anxious” to return to the chase, and hope to complete refuelling and resupplying in Melbourne by next Tuesday.

Greenpeace has no plans to dispatch its vessel, the Esperanza, again.— AP

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