Latest Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary Stories

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to Speak in Support of Sea Shepherd at Press Conference Monday, February 11 in Washington, D.C. **UPDATING - ADDITIONAL SPEAKER, ROOM & TIME CHANGE** WASHINGTON, Feb. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Legal counsel for the global marine conservation organization, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, will announce landmark legal action the non-profit is taking in its ongoing battle against Japan's Institute for Cetacean Research (ICR) -- a...

April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A battle is brewing over whaling in the Southern Ocean between Australia and Japan. Australia's Environment Minister, Tony Burke, has reiterated his government's strong opposition to Japan's "scientific whaling" program, dismissing claims that the expeditions have any scientific research merit. "There is nothing scientific about going out and chasing whales, aiming a harpoon at them, so that you can pull them in and chop them up for...

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With President Barack Obama declaring June "National Oceans Month," the sanctity of the marine ecosystem resonates around the globe. Reaffirming their commitment to the oceans and those that inhabit them, Representatives Bill Keating and Howard Berman have introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives about the importance of U.S. leadership in whale conservation in the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and in other...

YARMOUTH PORT, Mass., Dec. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW; www.ifaw.org) is urging Japan to recall its whaling fleet which today left port for Antarctica to train its harpoons on around 1,000 whales. According to Japanese media reports, the country's whaling fleet is en route to the pristine Southern Ocean Sanctuary to kill up to 935 minke whales and 50 endangered fin whales, in defiance of global opposition and several...

LONDON, Sept. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is disappointed but not surprised that Japan's whaling fleet is reportedly planning a return to Antarctica later this year to kill more whales for its dying market. Following Japanese media reports today that whaling will continue with around US$27 million in additional government security budget to protect the fleet, Patrick Ramage, Director of IFAW's Global Whale Program, said: "I'd bet this...

Japan and the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd exchanged barbs on Tuesday during a world whaling conference over the issue of hunting of cetaceans in waters around Antarctica.In a plenary session of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), which oversees the hunting and the protection of cetaceans, Japanese delegation chief Kenji Kagawa described Sea Shepherd's pursuit of Japanese whaling ships as "sabotage", and accused the group of engaging in "violent and illegal...

This year's International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in the Channel Islands is expected to include hot topics on whaling by indigenous peoples and reforms to prevent "votes for cash" allegations.The UK is proposing reforms to make the IWC more open, while some are angry about US plans to maintain hunting by Alaskan natives.The meeting will also discuss proposals to ensure good practice in the whale-watching industry worldwide, and a bid to make the South Atlantic a sanctuary for whales....

SYDNEY, Feb. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has welcomed reports that Japan has called an early halt to its cruel whaling activities in Antarctica. In November last year, in defiance of international opposition and several international laws, Japan's whaling fleet set off for the pristine Southern Ocean Sanctuary with the intention of training its harpoons on around 1,000 whales. Despite a global ban on commercial whaling, Japan has...

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a group of Australian anti-whaling activists, has announced the christening of a new, $4 million, high-speed vessel that they claim is the fastest and strongest interceptor in the organization's history.The craft, dubbed Gojira (the Japanese name of famous movie monster Godzilla), was christened earlier this week during a ceremony held at the Fremantle fishing boat harbor in Western Australia, according to a press release posted Monday to the...

AGADIR, Morocco, June 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Dr Susan Lieberman, director of international policy for the Pew Environment Group, issued the following statement today in response to the International Whaling Commission's (IWC) Annual Meeting concluding without any results from the three-year effort to reconcile the impasse between pro-whaling and anti-whaling countries. "We are deeply disappointed that the governments present here, after more than 3 years of intense work, could not...