Japan continues to hunt whales, citing "scientific reasons." Marine wildlife protection organization Sea Shepherd interfered with Japan's whaling for years - but it's now decided to quit the campaign. What's behind this?
Image: imago/Kyodo News
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Despite protests and an international ban on commercial whaling, Japan continues whaling - Japan maintains its official stance that it hunts whale for "scientific purposes," despite meat from its hunts ending up on the market.
In 2014, the International Court of Justice in The Hague also banned whaling in Antarctica for scientific reasons, ruling that Japan's whaling served no scientific purpose, but was instead used to disguise commercial practices.
However, Japan failed to comply with the ruling, and has continued its whaling practices - at first in the North Pacific and then, one year later, also in Antarctica.
Japanese whale hunters had been met with fierce resistance by United States-based marine wildlife protection organization Sea Shepherd, which has been fighting against whaling and sealing since 1977.
Sea Shepherd says it has managed to successfully interfere with whaling ships in recent years, and thus helped save thousands of whales from being killed. Since 2015, writes Paul Watson, the founder of the organization, "another 1,400 whales were spared the lethal harpoons."
Sea Shepherd's Paul Watson (second from right) protests Japan's whaling practices with othersImage: picture-alliance/MAXPPP/Kyodo
However, despite such efforts, Japanese whalers still managed to meet their quotas for 2016 and 2017, even though Sea Shepherd had deployed two ships.
Military surveillance to stop whale lovers
"What we discovered is that Japan is now employing military surveillance to watch Sea Shepherd ship movements in real time by satellite - and if they know where our ships are at any given moment, they can easily avoid us," Watson wrote.
"The Sea Shepherd ships did get close, and our helicopter even managed to get evidence of their illegal whaling operations - but we could not physically close the gap.
"We cannot compete with their military-grade technology," Watson concluded.
"For the first time ever, they have stated they may send their military to defend their illegal whaling activities."
To help focus its limited resources, the environmental protection organization has now decided to stop sending vessels to the Southern Ocean.
Japan maintains it catches whales for "scientific research" - a notion the International Court of Justice shot down in 2014Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Kyodo
Watson says they "need to cultivate the resources, the tactics and the ability to significantly shut down the illegal whaling operations of the Japanese whaling fleet."
He did not specify what these tactics could be.
Watson also stressed how past efforts had paid off, since "there are now voices in the Japanese government opposing the continuation of whaling."
Will other groups fill the void?
A member of the Japanese fishing authority said it had acknowledged the statement by Sea Shepherd.
"It's not clear what the real intention of their statement is, and we don't know whether the organization will stop its anti-whaling actions this year," said the official, who wanted to remain anonymous, to news agency Reuters.
"We can't deny the possibility that other anti-whaling groups may take action - so we continue to closely monitor the situation and we're not making any predictions," the official added.
Whaler watching
The Berlin based NGO "Hard to Port" aims to end whaling in Iceland. For this purpose, the activists use mobile apps and drones. They want to draw attention to the brutal methods of the whalers.
Image: Hard to Port e.V. / Boris Niehaus
What does Hart to Port want?
The Berlin based organization Hard To Port, aims to put an end to commercial whaling in Iceland by documenting its brutal hunting methods. One of the reasons for founding Hard to Port was the impending hunt of 154 fin whales in the summer of 2014. On this occasion, the activists peacefully occupied a whaling ship. Fin whales feature on the IUCN list of endangered species.
Image: Hard to Port e.V. / Boris Niehaus
The beginning of the protest movement against Icelandic whaling
Commercial whaling has been banned since a moratorium came into force in 1986. That same year, in response to Iceland's decision continue with the practise, protesters sunk two whaling vessels in the port of Reykjavik. Today, Iceland's hunt of the large marine mammals continues. The meat of minke whales ends up in local restaurants, while that of fin whales is exported.
Image: Hard to Port e.V. / Boris Niehaus
Resumption of whaling
After a 17-year break, Iceland restarted its current whaling program in 2006. Its terms allow the annual slaughter of 229 minke whales in stipulated coastal waters - right next to a whale sanctuary. But criticism mainly relates to the sanctioned hunt of 154 fin whales per year. The species was brought to the brink of extinction by commercial fishing.
Image: Hard to Port e.V. / Boris Niehaus
Fin whales
One of Iceland's largest fishing companies is behind the hunt for the second largest animal on earth (after the blue whale). But because there is no market for fin whale in Iceland, the flesh of the animals is shipped to Japan - regardless of the fact that trade in whale products is banned under the CITES treaty.
Image: Hard to Port e.V. / Boris Niehaus
Hard to Port's whaler watching campaign
Hard to Port describes its work as "whaler watching". The goal is to make Icelandic whaling more transparent and to provide access to sensitive data, such as animal suffering. Hard to Port collects data and documents trapping methods in order to change public perception. In 2013, 60 percent of the Icelandic population didn't see the problem with whaling.
Image: Hard to Port e.V. / Boris Niehaus
Modern technology
Modern technology such as apps to locate hunting ships is used to document the whaling. Using collected speed data it was even possible to detect whether a ship has just harpooned a whale. When the ships came back into port, the activists documented the inlet and the further processing of the animals.
Image: Hard to Port e.V. / Boris Niehaus
Camera equipped drones
In addition to monitoring vessels via smartphone, the activists also used camera drones - a technique they say has been very important for documentation purposes, as it allows them to get close to the whalers and see their fishing methods.
Image: Hard to Port e.V. / Boris Niehaus
Attracting attention
In a bid to escape both international and local criticism, whaling often takes place in secret. Last year, Hard to Port fogged a whaling ship in orange smoke to highlight the issue. The images were widely shared via social media networks and put the problem back in the headlines. Even in the Icelandic press.
Image: Hard to Port e.V. / Boris Niehaus
Cooperation with the local population and businesses
An important part of the campaign is talking to people. The biggest local critics are from the whale watching industry. Iceland is considered a whale watching hotspot with 23 species visible in the course of a year. The expertise of these local companies is important for the organization's continued work.
