There is no place for whaling in our oceans
News
We’re united in our shock and disappointed at Japan’s unlawful plans to resume whaling, but we’re also united in our determination to stop the hunt.
In November, we were all stunned and appalled to hear that Japan is set to resume Antarctic whaling in 2016.
This action is in defiance of the International Court of Justice, which ruled in 2014 that Japan’s whale hunts in Antarctica were unlawful.
Japan claims they are hunting in the name of science, but there is nothing scientific about whaling - any scientific research needed to manage and conserve whales, can be done without bloodshed.
Whaling is cruel and there is no humane way to kill a whale at sea with an exploding harpoon. Many will suffer a long and agonising death.
There is no place for whaling in our oceans. We are therefore pleased to see that the New Zealand government is leading more than 30 countries in a joint diplomatic protest against Japan's decision to resume whaling in the Southern Ocean.
The protest, headed by New Zealand's Ambassador to Japan, Mark Sinclair, delivered a formal message in Tokyo expressing their opinion.
A total of 33 countries, including the US, Australia, Mexico, South Africa and the EU member nations, were represented.
Together, we have been campaigning to end whaling for decades, and none of us are ready to stop now.
There is still time to stop this terrible hunt.
Many of you have already made your voices heard. But if not, please take the time over the Summer break to tell our leaders that we’re relying on them to put enough diplomatic pressure on Japan to call off the hunt by taking action now.