Here's the latest video update from Esperanza, on patrol in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary protecting fin and minke whales from whalers, plus a blog update from Dave, our intrepid onboard webbie:
A second ship from the Japanese government whaling fleet left the hunting grounds today as our ship Esperanza continues to keep the fleet's mother ship, Nisshin Maru, out of action.
The Yushin Maru No.2, one of the harpoon-carrying "catcher boats" which actually make the kill, rendezvoused with the Nisshin Maru hundreds of miles north of the whale hunting ground.
The Esperanza has been chasing the Nisshin Maru since it discovered the whaling fleet in the early hours of January 13th. The Nisshin Maru ran from the whaling grounds, leading to six day chase during which no whales have been killed. Without the factory ship the fleet has been unable to hunt, because the whales must be transferred to the factory vessel, cut up and frozen immediately that they are harpooned.
Sakyo Noda, Greenpeace Japan Whale Campaigner on board the Esperanza said "We are very happy to see yet another of the fleet has left the whaling grounds, and we will do everything we can to ensure they do not return to hunting."
"We saw a number of whales surfacing and blowing in front of the catcher boat, and its fantastic to know that they are still safe from the harpoon, because we have kept the factory ship out of action and out of the hunting grounds," said expedition leader Karli Thomas.
Read more daily crew blogs at: http://weblog.greenpeace.org/whales/
