Greenpeace Anchors Anti-whale Campaign

The Age

Wednesday November 5, 2008

By ANDREW DARBY, HOBART

GREENPEACE has decided against tackling the Japanese whaling fleet in the Antarctic this summer, prompting accusations it has sold out on the protest.

The environmental organisation has repeatedly disrupted whaling in the far south, but with the fleet's departure close, has announced plans to campaign in Japan instead.

"Greenpeace believes the decisive battle to end whaling in the Southern Ocean is in Japan itself, and that's where we want to focus our efforts," Greenpeace Australia Pacific's chief executive Steve Shallhorn said yesterday.

Sea Shepherd's Paul Watson, who is going south this summer, said the decision was a rejection of Greenpeace supporters who had given millions of dollars to protect whales. "As a co-founder of Greenpeace, I can only say I am deeply offended," he said.

Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research said Greenpeace's eco-terrorist actions were never legitimate, and the decision was an admission that research whaling posed no risk to whale stocks.

"Greenpeace will now peddle their manipulations and lies more towards Japanese consumers merely because it just doesn't like people eating Antarctic whale meat, which is a healthy alternative to beef and lamb," said ICR spokesman Glenn Inwood.

The decision follows three eventful summers in which Greenpeace disrupted whaling for weeks at a time, and claimed to have saved hundreds of whales. Each year, however, the actions of Sea Shepherd's hardliners overshadowed Greenpeace's work.

Mr Shallhorn said the decision was not influenced by Sea Shepherd's presence in the Antarctic. "We do our own thing," he said.

Nor was it influenced by the costs of the expedition.

However, two Greenpeace anti-whaling activists are expected to face court in Japan early in 2009 on charges of stealing whale meat.

Mr Shallhorn said it was possible that an Antarctic trip might have harmed the case.

He said the decision should not be seen as holding out an olive branch to the Japanese Government. "There has been no significant movement by Japan so far that's encouraged us to do this," he said.

Sea Shepherd's ship, the Steve Irwin, has been refurbished and is expected to leave Australia next month.

There are doubts whether the Japanese whaling fleet's resupply ship, Oriental Bluebird, will go south. The Panama Maritime Authority fined its owners $US10,000 ($A14,700) for offences, including using the single-hulled vessel as a tanker, Mr Shallhorn said.

He said Japan has allocated an extra 800 million yen ($A12 million) to send a coast guard vessel.

© 2008 The Age

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