So the hunting season for the whaling fleet of Japan looks to be over, depending on what you read and who you believe. After the fire over a week ago on the Nisshin Maru factory ship (pictured above, from my assignment 2005-06), and the sad death of one of their crew (whose family found out about his death from news media, not from his employees…), the engineers have now repaired the ship and it’s engines, and it is heading north along with all other ships in the fleet. Closely monitored by Greenpeace ship ‘Esperanza’ which is nearby.
According to Greenpeace, the leader of the Japanese whaling expedition has informed them that the fleet is heading to Japan, but it seems that spokespeople here in Tokyo for the fleet are still playing games trying to muddy the waters in the press about what is happening, even though unnamed Japanese officials are telling the New Zealand conservation minister that the fleet are heading home.

If you wish to understand the controversial (and often muddled by spin doctors and PR machinery) whaling debate and issue, then here is a good article by David McNeill which explains some of the reasons the Japanese Fisheries Agency continue with their whaling programme.