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October 13, 2008 10:07:49 AM CDT

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Judge Bans Japanese Whalers in Aussie Waters

Posted Jan 15, 08 10:35 AM CST in Science & Health,  World 

(Newser) – An Australian judge has banned hunting by Japanese whalers in a large section of their traditional grounds in Australian-claimed waters off Antarctica. The ruling came today just hours after crew members of a militant eco-ship boarded a Japanese whaling vessel in the Southern Ocean to deliver a protest note—then were "kidnapped" by the whalers and tied to a mast, the AP reports.

The Australian injunction will be difficult to enforce, though the government has sent a ship to record evidence of infractions. Canberra prefers a cooperative approach to stop the Japanese fleet from its "so-called scientific whaling" that is expected to kill 1,000 minke and fin whales, said the nation's environmental minister. Very few countries recognize Antarctic territorial claims, complicating Australia’s position.

Sources Associated Press, Stuff.co.nz

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In this photo released by Greenpeace, the Japanese whaling vessel Nisshin Maru is seen from the Greenpeace ship Esperanza in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica Sunday, Jan. 13, 2008. The Esperanza drove...   (Associated Press)
In this photo released by the Sea Shepherd Society, Captain Paul Watson, left, and Terri Irwin pose aboard the Steve Irwin ship at a dock in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2007. The U.S.-based...   (Associated Press)
The Greenpeace protest vessel Esperanza leaves the New Zealand port of Auckland for Antarctic waters, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007, determined to find the Japanese whaling fleet. Already the U.S.-based Sea...   (Associated Press)
Japanese whaling vessels, Yushin Maru, right, and No. 3 Yushin Maru, depart on a whale hunt from Shimonoseki, southwestern Japan, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2007. Four ships, including the 8,044-ton mother ship...   (Associated Press)
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