The Greenpeace ship Esperanza, that has been shadowing the Nisshin Maru whaling factory ship for more than two weeks in a pursuit of more than 4300 nautical miles in the Southern Ocean, has been forced to abandon the chase due to needing to return to port to refuel.

While the Nisshin Maru has been on the move no whales were able to be hunted and slaughtered. The Nisshin Maru refueled illegally from the Panama registered Oriental Bluebird in the Antarctic Treaty Zone.
 http://sydney.indymedia.org.au/story/greenpeace-delays-whalers-refuelling-antarctic-treaty-zone

Greenpeace said it will continue it's anti-whaling campaigns through other channels, particularly in Japan. In just 48 hours more than 20,000 people emailed Fujio Mitarai, the CEO of Canon, demanding that he use his unique position as head of the Japanese Business Federation, to pressure the government to stop whaling in the Southern Ocean.

"While the Esperanza must return to port, the campaign to stop whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is far from over," said expedition leader Karli Thomas. "The pressure we have created on the high seas must now be translated into action by governments around the world, the Japanese people themselves and Japanese companies".

“It’s now up to the Australian government to keep watch on the whaling fleet for as long as possible, preferably as long as it remains in the Southern Ocean,” said Greenpeace Australia Pacific CEO Steve Shallhorn. “During his visit to Tokyo next week, Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith must gain confirmation that the Japanese government will not build a new whaling factory ship to replace the aging Nisshin Maru. A new and larger factory ship would commit Japan to whaling for another 40 years.” he said.

But the Greenpeace abandonment of chasing the whale fleet this season was heavily criticised by Captain Paul Watson from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

“I really have to question just what is Greenpeace's motivation in coming down here year after year,” said Captain Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd. “Their campaigns are always more of the same, buzzing about in rubber boats, hanging banners and filming whales being killed. Things have changed dramatically since Sea Shepherd has been intervening. Whales don't die when we show up. Instead the whalers run and they keep running. The whalers have never run from Greenpeace before and they were not running from them this year either. Even the whalers have admitted they have been running from the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin .”

Greenpeace uses the whaling issue in a fund-raising advertising campaign, including online advertising rights to major newspaper websites, to Google and other media sites. According to Sea Shepherd they spend only a fraction of that money on the whaling issue.

“This is all well and good,” said Captain Paul Watson. “But with the amount of revenue Greenpeace is bringing in why are they leaving for the season? They should get up to the nearest port, fill up their fuel tanks and get back down to the Southern Ocean and continue their campaign. The whalers will be down here for another two months. Plenty of time to refuel and return. But they won't do it. They have their pictures and they have their story and that is fuel enough to generate a fund-raising program for the rest of the year.”

Sea Shepherd has an annual budget of about 2 million dollars which is dwarfed by the budget of Greenpeace estimated to be in excess of one hundred million dollars.

“We will do everything we can with the resources we have but I can tell you this,” said Captain Watson. “If we had a fraction of the Greenpeace budget we will have two ships down here from the beginning of the whaling season until the end."

The Steve Irwin is still following the whaling fleet but is being shadowed by the Japanese ship Fukuyoshi Maru No 68 which keeps the whaling fleet informed of the position of Sea Shepherd.

“Because of this spy vessel tailing us we will not be able to close in on the whalers but we can continue to chase them and keep them on the run and if they are running they won't be whaling,” said Captain Watson.

When the Esperanza departed the whaling fleet Sea Shepherd 2nd Officer Peter Hammarstedt called Greenpeace Campaign Leader Karli Thomas on the Esperanza to request the position of the Nisshin Maru. According to Sea Shepherd, Thomas responded by saying that it was not necessary for Sea Shepherd to have the coordinates for the Nisshin Maru because the Oceanic Viking, the Australian Patrol ship, would continue documenting the activities of the factory ship to carry on the work that Greenpeace has been doing. She refused to give the co-ordinates of the Nisshin Maru saying that Greenpeace had no intention of cooperating with Sea Shepherd.

== New Zealand warns Whaling Fleet ==

A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K Orion sighted the Japanese whaling fleet travelling towards the Ross Sea. “The Orion was undertaking routine surveillance against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in the Southern Ocean in support of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources’ inspection system." said New Zealand's Conservation Minister Steve Chadwick.

According to media reports Japan agreed last year under an International Whaling Commission protocol to only hunt in Australian waters this year.

The Ross Sea is part of New Zealand’s search and rescue area of responsibility. “New Zealand is strongly opposed to Japan’s whaling in the Southern Ocean. At the same time, the safety of human life at sea is a responsibility New Zealand takes very seriously. We are also deeply concerned about the risk to human life and to Antarctica’s pristine marine environment, should the Japanese whaling fleet encounter problems at sea,” Steve Chadwick said.

Last season in the Ross Sea area the Nisshin Maru had a fire on board which damaged the ship and killed one crew member.
 http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/02/20/18366355.php

Chadwick said that due to public interest in this issue, if the whaling fleet is found in New Zealand's search and rescue area, the images of the fleet will be released to media as soon as they can be processed, but without co-ordinates.

== Sources: ==

Sea Shepherd, Jan 27, 2008 - Greenpeace Protects Japanese Whalers from Sea Shepherd
 http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_080127_1.html

Greenpeace News, Jan 26, 2008
Esperanza en route to Hobart
 http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/news-and-events/media/releases/whales/esperanza-en-route-to-hobart

Esperanza weblog, Jan 26, 2008 - We leave the Nisshin Maru
 http://weblog.greenpeace.org/whales/2008/01/we_leave_the_nisshin_maru.html

Greenpeace News, Jan 24, 2008 - Does Canon support shooting whales?
 http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/canon-shooting-whales-240108

Scoop Press Release: New Zealand Government, Jan 25, 2008 - Whaling Fleet Near NZ's Search & Rescue Zone
 http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0801/S00178.htm

== Background ==

Articles by Takver on San Fransisco Bay Area Indymedia
 http://www.indybay.org/search/search_results.php?search=whaling