Like a Harpoon in My Whale

The coasts around Australia and New Zealand are home to the Humpback population, (Megaptera novaeanglicae) the whales that traverse yearly just off shore, calving and breeding and being watched breathlessly by many tourists and travelers alike. The whale watching capital of the world exists because of certain sanctions put in place by the Environment Protection and Bio-diversity Conservation Act 1999. The E.P.B.C act created the Australian Whale Sanctuary, which is an area that runs 200 nautical miles from shore and even extends to cover regions along the continental shelf and slope where migration may occur. Within this sanctuary it is forbidden and an offense to kill, injure, take, trade, keep, move or interfere with a cetacean. If an Australian citizen was to commit any of these crimes outside the sanctuary it is still a crime, even if executed in foreign or international waters.

Australia loves her whales, she can't afford not to, as beside conservation and environmental reasons the whale watching business has never been more successful than now. But the threat that hangs over Australia and NZ now is Japan's flagrant misuse of the scientific cull. Long the thorn in every whale lover's side, Japan insists on whaling 50 of these humpbacks this coming summer after they have migrated through Australian and New Zealand waters to the Antarctic. With a population of only 9 to 10 thousand whales, a cull of fifty adults could lead to local extinction, never mind seriously harm Japan's already long marred image. Since the moratorium was lifted on scientific killing in 1986, more than 25000 whales have been killed for 'research' reasons. The Humpback population suffered a massive decline in the 19th and 20th centuries when an estimated 95% of their species was wiped out.

The International Whaling Commission allows Japan to grant itself a permit to kill for research and no amount of heavily enforced sanctuaries can over ride that. Any 'special' permit can allow whaling to continue if flown under the scientific research banner. The IWC needs to amend it's rulings and forbid even scientific slaughter in order to fully protect every species of whale.

Joji Morishita, the Japanese alternate commissioner, said his government was trying to make decisions on a scientific basis. Many local opinions of those opposed find it hard to accept a decision that means Japanese scientific whaling ships are forced to travel halfway across the world to slaughter whales that are unavailable in their own waters.

So what can be done to protect humpbacks in peril? More worldwide focus and attention should be placed on this critical and immediate issue, forcing Japan to rethink their actions and their image. Locally in the midst of a upcoming election, Australia will be forced to elect a government that provides stronger opposition for the people, and promises to steadfastly monitor whaling vessels in and around her waters. This will hopefully pressure Japan into justifying it's inadequate excuse for culling for scientific research. And leave the whales with a significant chance of survival.