The Japanese whaling fleet, disguised as a research team, returns home with almost empty pockets. The Sea Shepherd organization successfully placed this year's profit for Japan at serious rock bottom. Per Captain Paul Watson, killing just over 300 Minke whales in a full three-month campaign is an obvious defeat.
Watson posted his victorious claim on his official Facebook page supported by over half a million environmentalists worldwide. The report came in after various media outfits reported that the Japanese whaling fleet killed a total of 333 whales in the Antarctic. Apparently, these reports are giving the wrong tone in the true results of this year's hunting season.
Per Sea Shepherd, critics fail to see the larger picture. The truth is that Japanese whalers normally set a quota of 935 Minke whales, 50 Humpback whales, and 50 Fin whales per season. Since Watson's campaign started chasing Nisshin Maru, the "poachers" factory ship, only 111 whales are killed per month. That is about 234 whales saved.
Operation Nemesis, the latest anti-whaling campaign in the Southern Ocean, is just one in the series of 10 campaigns designed to stop the Japanese "criminal operations". In total, Watson's team has cost the whaling industry "well over $150 million in losses." From 2005 to 2014, Sea Shepherd has barred Japanese whalers from killing more than 6,000 whales.
Other real facts include a zero kill for Japan in the 2014 to 2015 season. Moreover, the hunt for Fins and Humpbacks has been completely shut down. Lastly, the quota for Minke whales is continually dropping after it has been cut to a third.
Per Smithsonian, Japan's whaling fleet returned home along with "biological samples" taken in the name of science. Allegedly, the trip was conducted to "learn more about the Antarctic marine ecosystem." Apparently, it is more likely connected to commercial whaling.
As a matter of fact, international bodies have condemned Japan for such illegal activities before. In 1986, a treaty was formed to stop the country from hunting whales for profit. However, the agreement did not hinder whaling for research.
It is believed that Japan immediately started "scientific hunts" a year after the treaty took effect. The nation postponed the campaign again after an international court ruling found irregularities nearly three years ago. Nonetheless, the whalers resumed the hunt at the end of 2015 under a different name with lower quotas to avoid attention.
