Australia shows Japanese whaling images
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - February 7, 2008 Environment Minister Peter Garrett said the "distressing"
pictures would help build global opposition to whaling.
"It is explicitly clear from these images that this is the
indiscriminate killing of whales, where you have a whale and its
calf killed in this way," Garrett told reporters in Sydney.
The Institute of Cetacean Research, the Japanese
government-affiliated organization that oversees the hunt, posted a
statement on its Web site headlined: "Australian Customs Photos
Mislead the Public."
"The Government of Australia photographs and the media reports
have created a dangerous emotional propaganda that could cause
serious damage to the relationship between our two countries,"
institute director Minoru Morimoto said in the statement.
It was not immediately clear when the whales were photographed
being hauled by their tails aboard the harpoon ship Yushin Maru 2.
The images were taken by an Australian customs ship that has
tracked the Japanese fleet in the Antarctic Ocean for the past
month gathering evidence for a diplomatic and legal battle against
whaling.
Hideki Moronuki, chief of the Japanese Fishing Agency's whaling
section, denied that one of the photographs depicted a calf.
"The fleet is engaged in random sampling, which means they are
taking both large and small whales. This is not a parent and
calf," Moronuki said.
He criticized the Australian ship for coming too close to the
whaler to take the photographs, calling it "the sort of dangerous
action that Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace have engaged in,"
referring to conservation groups that have harassed the whalers.
Japan temporarily halted its hunt in mid-January after sea
confrontations with both Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd.
Japan has staunchly defended its annual killing of more than
1,000 whales, conducted under a clause in International Whaling
Commission rules that allows whales to be killed for scientific
purposes.
Critics dismiss the Japanese program as a disguise for
commercial whaling, which has been banned by the commission since
1986.
Australian Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus said the images
released Thursday were evidence that could be used against Japan to
halt the annual slaughter.
"They will help us to back up the Australian government's
argument in an international court case, the details of which are
still to be worked out, to suggest that whaling should be
stopped," Debus told reporters.
Australia has yet to decide who to prosecute and in what court,
he said.