In Chile, the world's scientists are already meeting in advance of the 60th International Whaling Commission (IWC), which will be held there in late June. At this time of year, the eyes of the world turn to the deadlocked struggle between pro-conservation and pro-whaling countries as they clash over the future of whaling at the IWC meetings. And recent events have not been going well for the whalers - in recent weeks we have seen just how desperate the pro-whaling nations are to play down not only the recent scandal of stolen whale meat in Japan, but also the saga of exporting whale meat from Iceland and Norway. Both stories highlight the extent to which the whalers are routinely flouting not only international opinion but also the global ban on commercial whaling and the trading of whale meat.

Yesterday at 3pm local time the Esperanza departed from Hobart in Tasmania, Australia bringing to a close the 2007/2008 Southern Ocean Expedition. The ship had arrived on Sunday evening to a great welcome from the people of Hobart, including the mayor and a number of councillors.

After spending close to two months tracking the Japanese whaling fleet, Esperanza was forced to leave the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary last week when her fuel supply started to run out. The sanctuary had remained fatality free for the whales during the previous fortnight while the Espy chased the factory whaling ship, the Nisshin Maru, across 5,000 miles of the Southern Ocean.

A Greenpeace inflatable prevents the Nisshin Maru from being refuelled by the Oriental Bluebird © Greenpeace/Jiri Rezac

A few days ago, the Esperanza - which had been pursuing the Japanese whaling fleet for two weeks - was forced to quit the chase and head back to port as the ship is running low on fuel. But this year's Southern Ocean expedition has been a resounding success.

After eleven days successfully preventing the Japanese whaling fleet from killing whales in the Southern Ocean, the crew of the Esperanza were this morning able to inconvenience them still further by delaying the refuelling of their factory ship, the Nisshin Maru.

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:

Greenpeace campaigner Sakyo Noda contacts the Japanese whaling fleet

Good news from Esperanza, our ice-class vessel on patrol in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Yesterday the Espy had a face to face encounter with the Japanese whaling fleet's factory vessel, the Nisshin Maru, which was confronted close to the ice edge. As soon as they realised that we were in the area, the whalers put on speed and tried to get away.

After a high speed chase over hundreds of miles through fog and increasingly rough seas (see video clip below), the Esperanza this morning pursued the whalers north of the over the 60 degrees latitude mark - out of the Southern Ocean hunting grounds. The catcher vessel Yushin Maru also followed suit.

With a name like that, whose heart can resist the urge to help this incontinent creature?

If you’ve missed out on the internet flurry around Mister Splashy Pants, here’s a quick low-down:

• Our international office started a competition to name one of the humpbacks that was tagged and being tracked to the Southern ocean where hunting for Minke and Humpback whales will begin this month
Read more »

It's time for us whale lovers to hold our breath and cross our fingers yet again as we watch developments at the 59th meeting of the International Whaling Commission, now underway in Anchorage, Alaska.

For the past few years the IWC, charged by the United Nations with protecting whales, has been the focus of serious lobbying by some whaling nations to allow a resumption of commercial whaling - suspended since 1986 following a dramatic decline in the number of great whales worldwide.