International Fund for Animal Welfare investigates whaling practices

"For some time the whale is seen breathing quickly at the surface. It is then winched up to the ship by the tail and is clearly still alive and thrashing around. It may have died from asphyxiation because its head was kept under water. This is how a whale was killed when the boats were being observed, so what happens when they're not being seen?" said Vassili Papastavrou.

The organisation said they will examine the unedited footage to determine the amount of time it took for this whale to die and subsequent cruelty issues.

Shane Rattenbury, Greenpeace Expedition Leader on-board the Arctic Sunrise in the Southern Ocean, witnessed the killing first hand and said: "The Fisheries Agency of Japan has made no secret about the fact that its so-called scientific whaling programme is designed to bring about a return to commercial whaling.

"If this is allowed to happen many more whales will suffer a similar fate. We hope that these shocking images will encourage governments and people to redouble their efforts to once and for all stop whaling."

Ellie Dickson, UK marine campaigner with IFAW, said: "This gut-wrenching footage provides graphic evidence that whaling is inherently cruel and should be stopped."

Despite a global ban on commercial whaling imposed by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1986, Japan is currently hunting 935 minke whales in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary as "scientific research". In the current season it also plans to slaughter 10 of the endangered fin whale.

Forty-one IWC resolutions criticising "scientific" whaling have been passed by majority vote over the past 18 years, including one at last year's meeting held in Ulsan, Korea.

Legal Action against Japanese whaling

International Fund for Animal Welfare says that Australia can seek an injunction at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) to halt Japan's whaling program, known as JARPA II, within 14 days. “Time has run out. Diplomacy has failed to stop the killing of these magnificent creatures. The Australian Government must move swiftly with legal action before more whales fall victim to the harpoon,” said IFAW Marine Campaigner Darren Kindleysides.

One of Australia’s leading international law experts, Professor Don Rothwell, has provided advice that the Australian Government has very strong grounds to take Japan to the international courts on the whaling issue. "If Australia was to seek to resolve this matter through an international body called the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea based in Hamburg, Australia would stand a very strong chance of success in initially gaining provisional measures, which would effectively shut down of the Japanese whaling program for the current summer season." he told an ABC reporter for The World Today program.

The Minister, Senator Ian Campbell, has dismissed taking legal action saying "My advice is that it would not only be ineffective, but it would be counterproductive."

Visitors to the IFAW can take action by emailing Senator Ian Campbell, Australian Minister for Environment and Heritage, asking for the Australian Government to take legal action against Japan immediately, to pursue an injunction to halt whaling within 14 days.

See Also:

• Kemp: "methods used to kill whales involve an unacceptable level of cruelty" Melbourne Indymedia
• Troubled Waters: A Review Of The Welfare Implications Of Modern Whaling Activities - 2004 report
• How to study whales without slaughter and consumption - Perth Indymedia, 3 January, 2006

• Harpooned whale's agonising death in whale sanctuary - International Fund for Animal Welfare - 4 January 2006
• IFAW Stop Japan from Killing Whales website
• Fed Govt urged to take legal action against whalers - ABC The World Today - 22 December , 2005