The big catch that might just get away

[Playinghardball]

The big catch that might just get away January 22, 2011

The future of Japan's Antarctic industry hangs in the balance, writes Andrew Darby.

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Three black ships of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society took up positions around a red fuel tanker and escorted it out of the Antarctic. Skulking in their wakes were two of the three harpoon-equipped whale hunter ships in the Japanese fleet.

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Now that the Sea Shepherd ships had locked on to the tanker Sun Laurel, the conservationists claimed to have found the fleet's Achilles heel. If Nisshin Maru could not refuel, Japan's whalers would have to cut their season short.

Neptune's Navy came one step closer to ruling the waves.

It was further evidence that, after spending 23 years killing about 10,000 Antarctic minkes in the name of science, Japan's whalers are increasingly embattled.

>snip<

The hopes of long-time opponents, such as Patrick Ramage, from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, are rising. ''What I sense now is that the whaling industry is in its death throes,'' Ramage says.

More at: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/whale-watch/the-big-catch-that-might-just-get-away-20110121-19zyl.html

[xchrom]

1. Excellent may that 'scientific' become a footnote. Nt