March 12, 2008
1312 gmt
Antarctica
Anti-Whalers End Mission Near Antarctica, Say 500 Mammals Saved (click here)
By Michael Heath
March 11 (Bloomberg) -- A conservation group that clashed with Japanese whalers off Antarctica said its ship is running out of fuel and heading home after saving more than 500 whales.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said it prevented the Japanese from harpooning any whales for a total of 5 1/2 weeks, or almost half of the whaling season. The season finishes in about 10 days, it added.
``We have no alternative but to retreat from the Southern Ocean,'' Paul Watson, president of Sea Shepherd and captain of the group's ship, the Steve Irwin, said in a statement. ``We have just enough fuel to make it back to port.''
Japanese ships head to Antarctica in November each year to kill as many as 1,000 minke and fin whales in the name of scientific research. Japan says the research is necessary to prove whale stocks have recovered sufficiently to make a return to commercial whaling sustainable.
The Japanese fleet has killed no more than 400 whales, Watson said late last month....
By Michael Heath
March 11 (Bloomberg) -- A conservation group that clashed with Japanese whalers off Antarctica said its ship is running out of fuel and heading home after saving more than 500 whales.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said it prevented the Japanese from harpooning any whales for a total of 5 1/2 weeks, or almost half of the whaling season. The season finishes in about 10 days, it added.
``We have no alternative but to retreat from the Southern Ocean,'' Paul Watson, president of Sea Shepherd and captain of the group's ship, the Steve Irwin, said in a statement. ``We have just enough fuel to make it back to port.''
Japanese ships head to Antarctica in November each year to kill as many as 1,000 minke and fin whales in the name of scientific research. Japan says the research is necessary to prove whale stocks have recovered sufficiently to make a return to commercial whaling sustainable.
The Japanese fleet has killed no more than 400 whales, Watson said late last month....
