For the second consecutive year, Japanese whalers have returned to port after an Antarctic expedition with the carcasses of 333 whales. The five-ship fleet
For the second consecutive year , Japanese whalers have returned to port after an Antarctic expedition with the carcasses of 333 whales. The five-ship fleet, put forth by the country’s Fisheries Agency, killed the minke whales during a months-long voyage to southern waters for what it calls ecological research.
The agency released a statement describing the mission as «research for the purpose of studying the ecological system in the Antarctic Sea,» according to Agence France-Presse .
The Associated Press reports that Fisheries Agency official Shigeto Hase lauded a successful expedition in Shimonoseki, the home port for Nisshin Maru, mother ship of the Japanese fleet.
«It was great that we have achieved our plan,» Hase told those gathered for a welcome ceremony, including the city’s mayor and about 200 local people, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. notes. «We will steadily continue our research toward a resumption of commercial whaling. »
It is not by chance that the word «research» served as the centerpiece of both statements.
