Monday, January 19, 2009

Whale Wars 2008-2009: Australian Government

Usually I post about the Japanese whalers and the environmental activists when talking about the Whale Wars in the Antarctic. Today I was reminded that the Australian government has also at least somewhat taken a stance against the Japanese whaling, although they have not done much in terms in trying to stop them. This article, however, gives an interesting take on what the Australian government should do to stop the whaling. It suggests that the government should go after the Japanese on environmental concerns and not just the fact they are killing whales for sketchy scientific reasons. It talks about challenging the Japanese in the Antarctic Forum (I think this is something set up under the Antarctic treaty or the challenging at least somehow relates to the treaty) on environmental grounds, such as the increased risk of oil spills due to the whaling fleet being in Antarctic waters. The big concern for oil spills is due to the fact that the fleet refuels at sea using a refueling vessel.

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