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| dead minke courtesy Institute of Cetacean Research |
The UN's International Court of Justice concludes that Japan's commercial whaling in the Southern Ocean is not scientific research and therefore violates the International Convention for Regulation of Whaling. The suit brought by Australia in May 2010 and joined by New Zealand should end Japan's annual whale hunt that up until now has only been actively opposed by the Sea Shepherd organization. The American branch was enjoined from harassing Japanese whaling vessels on the high seas and labeled "pirates" by a Ninth Circuit judge. Defense operations were handed over to the Australians. The ruling handed down on Monday should give the Australian government a legal basis for taking action against the government subsidized Institute of Cetacean Research. Japan's chief cabinet secretary said that Tokyo would comply with the decision. The international high court ordered all existing permits revoked and no new permits will be issued under the Antarctic research program known as JARPA II.
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| live humpbacks courtesy Greenpeace |
In a 12 to 4 decision the court found that Japan violates three provisions of the whaling treaty: the moratorium on commercial whaling; the factory ship moratorium; and the prohibition against whaling in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary declared in 1994. Japan had been authorizing taking as many as 935 minke whales, 50 humpback and 50 fin whales annually, all in the name of "research". Whale meat was documented reaching seafood markets for sale in Japan where it is considered a delicacy. Since the moratorium on whaling began Japan has killed more than 14,000 whales in the name of science, a cynical evasion that took decades of campaigning and active intervention to end. It is only an act of God that human defenders were not lost at sea. Conservation organizations including Sea Shepherds and
Greenpeace praised the court's final decision. Sea Shepherds founder Captain Paul Watson said he hoped Japan would honor the ruling and leave the "gentle giants"* in their safe haven at peace.
US Person is sure that if the whales could talk to humans they would say, "thank you for peace at last"!
*Science now knows that humpback males will fight to the death to defend mating females.
