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Source: Reuters -
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Australia's government came under pressure from lawmakers to
block spy flights launched by Japanese whalers from Australian
airports to foil hard-line anti-whaling activists in the Southern
Ocean.
As activists near Antarctica unveiled a third secret boat to help
them pursue and block the Japanese fleet, influential Australian
lawmakers said reconnaissance flights were helping Tokyo breach
international anti-whaling conventions.
"What we have here is spy flights, which are helping to breach
international law, being conducted from Australian airports under
the guise and under the nose of the Australian government,"
conservative opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt told state
radio.
Japan's government-backed whaling fleet aims to harpoon up to 935
Minke whales and 50 fin whales, classified as endangered, in the
Southern Ocean during the current Southern Hemisphere summer.
Commercial whaling was banned under a 1986 treaty.
But the Japanese continue to cull whales on grounds that this is
for research purposes and to monitor their impact on fish stocks,
deflecting criticism from anti-whaling nations like Australia,
Britain and New Zealand.
Activists from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vow to disrupt
the hunt and revealed a 1,200-tonne former Norwegian harpoon ship
refitted in secret to harass the Japanese.
New activist boat takes whalers by surprise
The ice-strengthened ship, the third in the Sea Shepherd fleet,
surprised the whalers near Antarctica's Commonwealth Bay.
But it didn't stop a Japanese security vessel to slice through one of the anti-whaling boats.
Sea Shepherd says one the high-tech $1.5 million Ady Gil was
rammed in waters near Commonwealth Bay. None of the six crew were
said to be injured and were rescued by the Sea Shepherd flagship
Steve Irwin.
A public relations company based in New Zealand and linked to
Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research chartered aircraft in Hobart
and in Western Australia state last month to track the Steve Irwin,
The Age newspaper said.
"Instead of Australia sending a surveillance vessel to watch the
whalers, the Japanese are using Australian soil to watch the whale
defenders," said Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown, whose party
wields five key swing votes needed by the government.
The Greens would try to introduce laws banning access to support
services when parliament resumed in February, he said, though
support in the chamber was uncertain.
Environmentalists accuse centre-left Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of
back-pedalling on threats of an International Court of Justice
whaling challenge to avoid damaging Australia's trade ties with
Japan and slow-moving talks on a free trade pact.
Some legal experts believe the cull violates international law.
A court challenge would lead to so-called provisional orders for
Japan to halt whaling ahead of a full hearing.
Legal expert Don Rothwell said the flights had broken no laws and
overreaction could expose the government to accusations of
breaching its Southern Ocean policing responsibilities.
"It can also be argued that these flights were designed to provide
additional security to the Japanese fleet," said Rothwell, from the
Australian National University.
But Sea Shepherd Captain and founder Paul Watson said the flights
were aiding whaling in waters claimed by Australia, but not
recognised by Japan.
"There's no difference between these Japanese whalers and
elephant poachers in east Africa, except in east Africa they shoot
the poachers," Watson said.
Japan was Australia's top export destination in 2008, with two-way
trade worth $79 billion.
Canberra also maintained a $34 billion trade surplus on the back
of coal and iron ore exports.
Japan says whaling is a cultural tradition and while most Japanese
do not eat whale meat regularly, many are indifferent to
accusations that hunting the creatures is cruel.
