I've mainly been posting updates on the situation in Japan over on Making Waves, so I'm going to do a quick sum up. First of all, Junichi and Toru are out of detention - they've been charged, but are on bail now. Still, justice will not be done until a proper investigation of the whale meat scandal happens. The unanswered question remains, "Why did the Japanese prosecutor suddenly drop his investigation into the stolen whale meat allegations, despite Greenpeace directly handing him the solid and compelling evidence?"
More here »

So, what would happen now if Japan's Supreme Public Prosecutor's office was inundated by actual, physical letters calling for the whale meat investigation to be re-opened? Take action: Contact the Prosecutor about the real whaling scandal »

This week, a former whaling official has come out in opposition to Japan's whaling »

Here'ss something that turned up recently - Canadian rockstar Bryan Adams was on BBC 1 Breakfast TV last month (23rd June), wearing a "Release Junichi and Toru" T-shirt. Rocker Bryan Adams supports Junichi and Toru »

Follow more updates here »

Dave

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Hi folks - I'm currently keeping the whaling focus over the Making Waves blog - so for now, please head to there for your whale news. Here's the latest on the arrests in Japan:

Update: Take Action now to release our activists »

Breaking news - two Japanese Greenpeace activists, Junichi and Toru, have been arrested for exposing the stolen whale meat scandal which led to the ongoing investigation by the Tokyo Public Prosecutor of the government's Southern Ocean whale hunt.

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Greenpeace Japan's Junichi Sato displaying the stolen whale meat to the media. ©Greenpeace/Naomi Toyoda

It's been a busy few days for the Defending Whales Team in Tokyo, Japan:

"Stake outs, testimony from informers, hidden cameras and tailing trucks full of stolen goods - it reads like a Hollywood movie, but it was an every day experience for Greenpeace activists in Japan, who have spent four months cracking open a major conspiracy of corruption at the heart of Japan's government-backed, sham scientific whaling operation."

Read more here »

Posted by Brian yesterday:

"Finally, we can tell the story some of us have been sitting on for months now: the whale meat embezzlement we uncovered in Japan, in which stolen cuts of prime whale bacon are smuggled away from the "scientific research" vessels and sold for oodles of yen -- one of our informers heard a crew member claim he built a house on his illegal proceeds."

Blog: Stolen whale meat scandal rocks Japan »

And an update I just posted on Making Waves:

"We met for breakfast at 6:30am; the sun was shining for the first time in days, and the scandal had been splashed all over the front page of the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading newspaper with 8 million copies circulated daily. A good start to the day. By the time our press conference kicked off at 10am, news had spread, and the room was packed with domestic and international media, including all the top Japanese TV stations, and international agencies like Bloomberg and Agence France-Presse. Cross conferences can be notoriously dull affairs - but this was a little different. Our whale campaigner, Junichi, while presenting the conference with Jun (Greenpeace Japan executive director) pulled on a pair of surgical gloves, and held up a piece of the stolen whale meat for the cameras. Mind, seeing wasn't enough to convince one journalist who was forced to ask "is it real?" To which Junichi replied that it certainly was, and invited the journalist to have a sniff - the whale meat doesn't smell so good, and by the time the conference was over, the entire room smell of dead whale - an Antarctic minke that found an ignominious, pointless end, stuffed into a cardboard box."

Read more here »

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According to the The Age newspaper in Australia, diplomat Sandy Hollway has been unofficially named as Australia's new "whale envoy" to Japan:

"[Prime Minister] Kevin Rudd has selected Labor mate Sandy Hollway to be Australia's first whaling envoy, ending a desperate five-month search for someone willing to confront Japan over its whale slaughter. An experienced diplomat and chief of staff to former prime minister Bob Hawke, Mr Hollway is known to most Australians as the face of the 2000 Sydney Olympics where he was head of the organising committee. He is also on good terms with Mr Rudd, appointed by the Prime Minister in March as chief mediator between Canberra and Port Moresby over the future of the Kokoda Trail."

The Age: Diplomat lands task of stopping whale hunt »

If these reports of Mr. Hollway's appointment as Australia's Whales Envoy to Japan are true, then the Australian government should confirm it as soon as possible - rather than leave it open to further speculation. Support for whaling is on the wane in Japan, but Hollway - or whoever gets the envoy role - will still have his work cut out for him, what with the International Whaling Commission Meeting coming up in June, and the Japanese whaling fleet gearing up for a return to the Southern Ocean at the end of the year.

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Some good news from Chile, where the International Whaling Commission meeting is due to happen in June. There's been strong campaigning going on at a national level to turn Chile's waters into a whale sanctuary - and if this report is anything to go by, it's a damn good idea:

"... 22 years after an international whale-hunting moratorium went into effect, some whales appear to be making a comeback off Chile's coast, where a proliferation of islands, fiords, peninsulas and straits creates tens of thousands of miles of shoreline. In recent years, researchers combing remote crannies of this elongated coast have confirmed the presence of two seasonally resident populations of whales, including 100 to 150 humpbacks here in the glacier-rimmed Strait of Magellan."

"Farther to the north, closer to the seas once frequented by Mocha Dick, they've tracked several hundred blue whales, believed to be Earth's largest animal, at 100 feet long and more than 100 tons -- bigger than any dinosaur. A separate population of blue whales feeds off the central California coast between June and October."

It's worth reading the whole article, which is quite in-depth, in the LA Times:
Whale sightings off Chile raise hope for the endangered animals »

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From Reuters:

Norwegian whalers shot the first whale of the season on Wednesday of a quota of 1,052, a group opposed to the hunts said. Norway, with Japan the main whaling nation despite an international moratorium, resumed commercial hunts in 1993 and says that the minke whales it harpoons are plentiful in the north Atlantic.

Read more »

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Remember the excitement about Mr Splashy pants a few months ago? As part of the Great Whale trail, we launched a competition for our supporters to name humpback whales being tagged off the Cook Islands and New Caledonia. The project was part of our non-lethal research work into whale migrations and behaviour. Well, there was unprecedented response with votes being rigged - Mr Splashy Pants overwhelmingly won the vote and went viral!

Read about the other whales that were named »

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© Greenpeace/Naomi Toyoda

Japan's factory whaling ship, the Nisshin Maru was "welcomed" into Tokyo earlier today, by Junichi and our team from Greenpeace Japan, along with the word "failed" to accompany the ubiquitous and Orwellian "RESEARCH" painted on its hull.

During its five months at sea, the Nisshin Maruwas responsible for taking 551 minke whales from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary - far less than the 1035 whales planned, but more than a hundred than were killed three years ago. Our ship, the Esperanza, shutdown Japan's entire whaling operation for 15 days, during a 4300-mile chase of the Nisshin Maru across the Southern Ocean. The whalers are blaming the protestors (that'd be us then) for missing their target.

Nisshin Maru Arrives in Tokyo after failed "research" in the Southern Ocean »

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© Greenpeace/Sebastian Araya
From Melissa, at Greenpeace Chile
Last Sunday, more than 1,000 people - mainly children - formed a a human heart round a 35 metre large (inflatable!) whale in the middle Of Santiago, the capital city of Chile. Motivated by the killing of whales in the Southern Ocean during the last few months, the Chilean people have called on the government to create a whale sanctuary in Chilean waters - part of a larger sanctuary that's currently being worked out by South American countries.

Santiago will be hosting the International Whaling Commission meeting in June of this year.

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Posted by Irene onboard the Esperanza

©Greenpeace/Jiri Rezac

The icebergs outside our portholes have been replaced by the buildings of Hobart.
We could smell the trees from far away. For some reason many looked surprised at the sight of land, as if we had expected it not to be there anymore. When sailing into Hobart, we were moved by the big welcoming crowd cheering and waving on the quayside. It took some time to clear customs, but about an hour later we set foot on land for the first time in a month and a half. It was lovely to see all these smiling faces, and as much as I like my crewmates, it is good to see some others than the 36 onboard!

Tomorrow we will hold the ship open for visitors – if you happen to be in the area please come pay us a visit between 12 and 19pm!

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Posted by Irene onboard the Esperanza

The Oceanic Viking reports that at least five whales have been killed in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. I am sad, angry and frustrated.

We chased the factory ship the Nisshin Maru over a distance of 4,300 nautical miles. During that time no whales were killed. When we had to leave the Australian surveillance vessel Oceanic Viking had arrived. If the whaling fleet have "only" killed five whales so far, it means that the whaling fleet didn't resume whaling immediately, but I guess they got desperate to try and fill their quota. It is very difficult to find anything positive to say today.

Media coverage and public discussion on the whaling issue has reached unprecedented levels in Japan, and Prime Minister Fukuda has been forced to discuss the whaling issue in Parliament.

Japanese taxpayers must be wondering why they are funding this scandalous fake research operation which produces no real science, whale meat that very few wants to eat, and brings their country into international disrepute.

The Japanese government wants to "normalise" the International Whaling Commission, and overthrow the moratorium on commercial whaling. Bloody pictures of whales being killed in the Southern Ocean do not serve this purpose.

Therefore I post one from 2006 - this is what the Japanese government's science looks like.

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Posted by Irene onboard the Esperanza

Before heading for the Southern Ocean, the Esperanza was in Okinawa to support local groups and help protect the last remaining population of dugongs in Japan. The US Defense plans to build a 1.5-mile-long runway over their habitat around a coral reef.

In 2003 members of the Okinawan community joined with an international coalition of conservation groups to file suit in U.S. district court on behalf of the dugong.

Yesterday we got the good news: a final ruling requires the US Department of Defense to consider impacts of a new airbase on the endangered Okinawa dugong. The airbase construction will not automatically be stopped because of this court case, but it is the first step towards achieving that goal.

Read the decision

Read the full press release from the Center for Biological Diversity

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Posted by Sara onboard the Esperanza

We have had a number of comments recently – some of them very negative towards our decisions and tactics. That is fine and unlike most governments, companies and organisations, we are proud that we have an open forum in order to ensure people who follow our campaigns have a voice.

Disagreement is fine. We do not expect everyone to be in tune with what we do, but no one should have to tolerate some of the gratuitous abuse that has been levelled on this blog and lies that have been told.

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Posted by Sara onboard the Esperanza

A picture can paint a thousands words, so the saying goes. Yesterday I did an interview with the BBC and was asked if Greenpeace only comes to the Southern Ocean for the publicity and the pictures. Publicity is an important part of any campaign, for any one on any issue. Global media means global attention for a problem and that in turn ensures that far more people are aware of the problem than would have been before. In Japan one of the most difficult things about trying to end whaling in the Southern Ocean has been that the issue has gone largely unreported. That is changing and the media attention which the issue is getting means that we have seen far more people in Japan opposing whaling, because now they are getting the facts. That is a major step forward.

But, back to the original question - do we do it just for the pictures? Well, the Esperanza managed to stop the whaling operation in the Southern Ocean this year for longer than we have ever done before – and here are the dramatic, shameless media images of us doing it, judge for yourselves:

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Posted by Irene onboard the Esperanza

Outside it is already getting a little warmer, but it will take us some time to get back to port.

All over the world committed individuals of all ages and nationalities find their own ways to help save the whales. We've already told you about young activist Sophie, who will soon go to court together with her father for her protest outside the Japanese embassy in London.

Tomorrow the Japanese stand-up comedian Hiroshi Nakatsuji will do what he knows best and use the stage as an anti-whaling platform, in his show "Lucky Golden Whales".

"Scientific research can be done without the killing and whaling has also caused unnecessary conflict between Japan and the rest of the world - and it is important that I, as a Japanese living in New Zealand, take that message to them"

Hiroshi Nakatasuji quoted in the New Zealand Herald

Read more »

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Posted by Irene onboard the Esperanza

It is with mixed feelings I see the Nisshin Maru disappear at the horizon. Every morning these last couple of weeks we've seen this big black floating whale butchery ahead of us. I will not miss her. But right now I wish more than anything that we could stay with her until the end of the whaling season.

We have spent more than two weeks successfully preventing the Japanese whaling fleet from hunting, ever since we found the whaling factory ship. We have pursued the vessel for 4300 nautical miles, at high speed, and we are now running low on fuel and have to return to port.

The Australian government ship Oceanic Viking is still here. Maybe the presence of the Australian surveillance vessel makes a difference, since the Japanese government seems to want to avoid exposure of their "scientific whaling" at all cost.

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Posted by Irene onboard the Esperanza

I can think of prettier views from a porthole than a whaling factory ship, but as long as she is there and we are here no whales are killed in the Southern Ocean. Tonight it has been two weeks since we started chasing the Nisshin Maru.

Efforts are made also on land to put an end to whaling, and you need neither ship nor crew to take action. The headline Girl, 14, arrested in whaling protest caught our attention here on the Esperanza.

Read more »

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Posted by Irene onboard the Esperanza

Canon is the world's number one digital camera company, and a major sponsor of wildlife initiatives, environmental groups, and efforts to save endangered species.

The sight outside our portholes strikes me as absurd: the Nisshin Maru, two catcher boats, an Australian surveillance vessel and us on the Esperanza. This is a big remote sea - but right here it looks like rush hour. Imagine the logistics and resources spent on all these ships coming down here, only because the Japanese government refuses to end their hoax science programme in Antarctica. But there are powerful forces in Japan that could influence their government - if only they would speak up!

We wrote to Canon headquarters in Japan asking their CEO to speak out against Japan's whaling programme. But Canon declined to take a stand against the killing of thousands of whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

We believe that when a corporation draws income and brand value from association with environmental causes, they have a responsibility to speak out on those issues.

Ask the CEO of Canon Japan to speak up for the whales >>

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Posted by Jetske onboard the Esperanza

Getting in-between a 130 metre long ship and 160 metre long ship, isn't that too dangerous? I can see how for some people the answer to this question would be yes. For us (Heath and myself), the answer yesterday was no.

On our way to the Oriental Bluebird, a radio message was sent to the captains of the Nisshin Maru and the Oriental Bluebird from the bridge of the Esperanza. In this message we informed them in three different languages of our intentions and determination to stay in between the two ships in case they would persist in refuelling. Neither responded to our calls.

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Posted by Irene onboard the Esperanza

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Posted by Irene onboard the Esperanza

As I write this the Australian surveillance vessel Oceanic Viking has finally arrived, in the middle of Nisshin Maru’s refuelling process. We have boats in the water, and it seems as if the factory ships is also transferring frozen whale meat from the first weeks of hunting. Meanwhile, the two catcher boats circled very closely around the Nisshin Maru and the Oceanic Viking, in order to prevent our inflatable from approaching, hoses on full blast. It looked like pretty dangerous maneuvering, and made me think of a carrousel where the colourful horses and elephants have been replaced by mean watchdogs.

All of a sudden Oceanic Viking appears at the horizon. This has an immediate impact on the activities: the catcher boats slow down and increase their distance to the factory ships. As the Oceanic Viking comes closer they also turn off their hoses. In addition the captain of the Nisshin Maru calls the Esperanza, and urges us to keep safe distance. This is a bit strange considering that their own catcher boats is swerving around on a coin right next to the factory vessels.

More as it happens.

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Posted by Irene onboard the Esperanza

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Posted by Dave onboard the Esperanza

It's been an intense morning here on the Esperanza - after eleven days preventing the Japanese whaling fleet from killing whales, this morning we blocked the Nisshin Maru from refuelling in Antarctic waters from the dodgy Panamanian-registered vessel Oriental Bluebird.

As part of a dramatic non-violent protest against the whaling fleet's activities in the Southern Ocean, Jetske and Heath placed their inflatable boat between the factory ship and refueling vessel, as the massive two ships tried to come alongside to refuel. However, despite radio calls explaining our protest and plan, the vessels continued to close in on each other - and after half an hour, the inflable was forced out, with Jetske nearly getting caught by a cable. Only then did the refuelling begin.

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Posted by Irene onboard the Esperanza

The administrative vice-Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Toshiro Shirasu told reporters that the whaling fleet has not resumed hunting because Greenpeace is following their fleet in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

It has been almost eleven days since we started chasing the Nisshin Maru and since then not a single whale has been killed. I wake up every morning, look out through the porthole and there she is: the Japanese government's whaling factory ship, the Nisshin Maru. It still feels strange to see her in reality.

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