Japan's fleet sets sail

Japan's 'research' whaling fleet has set sail for the Antarctic again to kill more whales in the name of 'science'.

This is the eighteenth year of Japanese whale hunting, thinly disguised as "scientific research". In that time over 6,000 Antarctic minke whales have been killed.

Japan claims that the research is for the International Whaling Committee (IWC) - but the IWC has said it does not need the data and has repeatedly asked for the programme to be stopped. The waters surrounding the Antarctic were made into a whale sanctuary in 1994.

All the meat caught from minke whales will be sold on the open market in Japan, yet the market for whale meat in Japan is dying. Just a few days ago supermarket giant Tesco decided to remove whale meat from its Japanese stores'due to lack of customer demand'.

The whaling fleet's departure is the last of an 18-year programme. But government officials have already said that they intend to renew the hunt next year - without waiting for a scientific review of the current programme.

Greenpeace oceans campaigner Willie MacKenzie said: "The Japanese government should stop calling for the resumption of commercial whaling and should stop calling this expedition 'research'.

"World-wide, whales face a huge range of threats to their survival because of humanity; pollution, climate change and entanglement in nets. Commercial hunting under the guise of science is the one threat to whale populations that we can end immediately."

Recent surveys have found less than half the number of Antarctic minke whales estimated in previous studies.

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