Big news from Antarctic Whaling

This bit of breaking news may not hold... we shall see, but if in fact the whaling is done for the season, that's cause for celebration:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/16/3140867.htm

Photo from AAP: JoAnne McArthur/Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Activists cautious over Japan whaling halt

Anti-whaling activists cautiously welcomed news that Japan was suspending its annual hunt near Antarctica as a result of their harassment campaign.

"If that's true then it demonstrates that our tactics, our strategies have been successful," Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson said by satellite phone from the ship Steve Irwin after being told of the suspension.

"I don't think they've gotten more than 30 whales from what I can think, certainly they haven't got many whales at all," he said.

Mr Watson was reluctant to claim a victory over the whalers, but said "every whale saved is a victory to us, so we've gotten a lot of victories down here this year".

Japan's fisheries agency said it had suspended operations on the Nisshin Maru factory ship and was considering an early end to the annual harpoon mission after harassment from the conservation group.

"Putting safety as a priority, the fleet has halted scientific whaling for now. We are currently considering what to do hereafter," Fisheries Agency official Tatsuya Nakaoku said.

"We are now studying the situation, including the possibility of cutting the mission early," he said, but stressed "nothing has been decided at this point".

Prime Minister Naoto Kan's top spokesman, chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano, confirmed the temporary suspension and said the "Sea Shepherd's repeated sabotage is extremely deplorable", Kyodo News reported.

Sea Shepherd activists have harassed whalers in recent years, moving their ships and inflatable boats between the harpoon vessels and whales and throwing stink and paint bombs at the whaling ships.

Japan introduced scientific whaling to skirt the commercial whaling ban under a 1986 moratorium, arguing it had a right to watch the whales' impact on its fishing industry.

The fleet, consisting of some 180 people on four vessels, is aiming to cull about 850 minke whales in Antarctic waters this season, which is scheduled to end around March.

In the same period last year, Japan killed 506 minke whales, well below its planned catch of around 850.

Last year, Australia filed a complaint against Japan at the world court in The Hague to stop Southern Ocean scientific whaling. The decision is expected to come in 2013 or later.

A Sea Shepherd activist was given a two-year suspended jail term by a Japanese court in July for boarding a whaling ship, while one of the group's ships sank last year after a collision with a Japanese whaling ship.