Japan drops plans to hunt humpback whales

Deutsche Welle reports:

Japan has dropped its plans to kill humpback whales amid strong protests from Western countries led by Australia. Japan had planned to harpoon around 50 humpbacks on its current Antarctic expedition, the first time since the 1960s that Tokyo would have hunted the species. However, the country is still going ahead with its expedition in the Antarctic, which plans to kill nearly 1,000 other whales, mostly of the smaller minke species.

Aussies arming their whale hunt suit against Japan

Craig Skehan on the Sydney Morning Herald reports that the Aussies have armed a Princess Cruise ship with two .50-calibre machine-guns, and outfitted it with super peepers - "super-telephoto" lenses - and are recording the whale hunts of the Japanese in the southern ocean:

...Sources said the ship would also carry video equipment, and the images would be used in Australian international court action planned against the Japanese whale hunt, the largest for 20 years. The images would complement a series of aerial surveys on whale populations, to begin soon.

"The bottom line is you have got to get close to really see what is going on," one source said. Satellite technology would be of limited use against whalers and unmanned aerial vehicles would be unlikely to have sufficient range. The imminent Japanese Government-backed hunt aims to slaughter 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales. For the first time since 1963, humpbacks - 50 of them - are being targeted....

...Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, yesterday accused the former Howard government of doing nothing to save the endangered whales. He said nobody took seriously Japan's claim that it was conducting scientific research. The whale meat obtained is sold to Japanese consumers....