Greenpeace protesters spent Christmas riding out a force 10 gale in the icy Southern Ocean and consoling themselves with the thought that the foul weather was preventing Japanese whalers from adding to their kill, the group's team leader said yesterday.
The Japanese whalers and two Greenpeace ships, the Esperanza and Arctic Sunrise, have been playing cat and mouse in Antarctic waters for almost a week but were now simply intent on riding out the storm, campaign leader Shane Rattenbury said.
rough day
PHOTO: AP/GREENPEACE
"We're having a rough day. We're in the middle of a force 10 storm with wind gusts of 55 knots," Rattenbury said by satellite phone from onboard Arctic Sunrise.
"You could say it's a good Christmas in the sense that there's no whaling going on today -- it's a bit of a Christmas present for the whales," Rattenbury added.
Rattenbury said feelings were mixed among the crews of the two Greenpeace ships.
"Obviously people are missing their family and friends but there's also a sense that we're doing something out here that's making a difference and saving the whales," he said.
"We had a few Christmas beers last night and now we're quietly riding out the storm."
Earlier, another protest ship, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's Farley Mowat, reported it almost collided with one of the Japanese vessels.
When conditions have permitted in the past week, protesters have placed their inflatable boats between the harpoons and the whales, prompting the Japanese to spray them with fire hoses.
moratorium
The International Whaling Commission imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986 but Japan says its whale hunts are carried out for scientific research.
Critics, such as the Australian government, claim the program is a cover for the commercial killing of whales for consumption in Japan, where whalemeat is a popular food.
Despite international protests, Japan has this year more than doubled its planned catch of minke whales to 935 and added 10 endangered fin whales, with plans to eventually lift the number to 50, along with 50 rare humpback whales.
Australia has declared a whale sanctuary in a large swathe of the Southern Ocean that it considers to be its Antarctic territory but the refuge is not recognized by Japan.
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