The value of lethal whale “research” is being questioned openly in Japan, as the government weighs up whether to return to the Antarctic.
A member of a review panel set up to advise the government, Hisa Anan, has called for a halt to the controversial hunt.
“Research whaling has been conducted for more than 20 years now,” Ms Anan told the ABC in Tokyo.
“I think they’ve gathered enough scientific data and, even if they want more, they can conduct non-lethal research.”
She said she did not believe Sea Shepherd activists would stop activities that exposed the whaling fleet crews to danger, and Japan should end the program.
A review of the loss-making program was sparked by last summer’s disastrous season, when the whaling fleet was forced out of the Southern Ocean by Sea Shepherd harassment.
Ms Anan’s minority view came in a report that also raised concerns over financial problems of the hunt.
The committee’s majority want to continue, but face the prospect of sending the whalers south against a strengthened Sea Shepherd fleet.
The group’s leader, Paul Watson, told Fairfax online all three of the group’s ships would be positioned in Sydney and Fremantle ready to return in October.
“We are also looking for a fourth ship,” Mr Watson said. “If they return we will be ready to engage them again.”
Sea Shepherd’s flagship Steve Irwin has been freed from arrest in the Shetland Islands, where it was held before a £520,000 ($818,000) bond was posted over a dispute arising from the group’s campaign against Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishing.
