CANBERRA — An Australian fisheries ship has begun pursuing
Japan’s whaling fleet near Antarctica to gather evidence for an international
court challenge to halt the yearly slaughter, officials said on Wednesday.
The icebreaker Oceanic Viking, used for customs and fisheries
policing, left a naval base near Perth late on Tuesday to find and track the
Japanese fleet in the Southern Ocean for up to 20 days, a spokeswoman for Home
Affairs Minister Bob Debus said.
While the vessel has stowed arms below deck to avoid a
confrontation, Australian customs officials on board will gather photographic
and video evidence of the Japanese kill.
Japan’s whaling fleet plans to hunt 935 minke whales and 50
fin whales for research over the Antarctic summer, but recently abandoned plans
to hunt 50 humpback whales after international condemnation and a formal
diplomatic protest by 31 nations.
Australia also plans to use patrols by a low-flying A319
Airbus jet used by Australian Antarctic scientists to follow and photograph the
Japanese fleet, intensifying pressure on Tokyo to end the hunt in future. This
year’s cull ends in February.
Japan has long resisted pressure to stop scientific whaling,
insisting whaling is a cherished cultural tradition. Its fleet has killed 7,000
Antarctic minkes over the last 20 years.
"We are conducting our research in accordance with the
international treaty on whaling, and therefore we will never change our stance,"
an official at Japan’s Fisheries Agency said after the Australian ship departed.
The ship is expected to take at least a week to reach the
whaling grounds and Australia’s government is refusing to comment on its
movements, sparking criticism from anti-whaling activists hoping to disrupt the
fleet’s operations.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said photographic evidence
gathered by the Oceanic Viking and aircraft could be used before tribunals
including the International Court of Justice in The Hague and the International
Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to stop Japan’s hunt.
The Japanese official said a case would never succeed.
"Antarctica is not a territory of any country. Lawful activities in open seas
can never be blocked," he said.
