It's Official: Sea Shepherd Is Successfully Thwarting Japanese Whaling

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Congratulations are in order. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (which we covered back in GOOD 002) has played a significant role in reducing the number of whales killed by Japanese fisheries in the Antarctic waters of the Southern Ocean Sanctuary, where whaling is prohibited by law. BBC News reports:Japan's Fisheries Agency said its fleet had killed 679 Minke whales out of a planned 935, and just one Fin whale, despite a target of 50. It partly blamed the disruptions on the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a US-based environmental group. Protesters had escalated their attacks on Japanese ships, the agency said. The Fisheries Agency said 16 days of hunting were lost due to bad weather and confrontations at sea between activists and the six-ship whaling fleet. It added that several hunting ships were damaged in collisions or by chemicals thrown by the protesters. What I love about this story is that it's the JFA that's calling out the effectiveness of the Sea Shepherd (as opposed to the Sea Shepherd putting out a press release touting their own success). Quite impressive.