Greenpeace oceans campaigner Zac Qereqeretabua said the sanctuary vote shows there is growing support for a South Pacific Whale Sanctuary. Greenpeace is now confident that the sanctuary would be soon be a reality, he said. Japan has also had to defend itself against strong criticism over the conduct of its coastal whale and dolphin hunt. Around 20,000 of the small cetaceans die annually in the hunt. The Japanese delegation walked out of a working group meeting when the British delegation attempted to table a report and videotape showing cruel and inhumane treatment of some dolphins.
Norwegian whaler shoots a harpoon at a minke whale.
The Japanese Whaling Association, which has hired the PR firm Shandwick to help its campaign, has taken an aggressive approach to gaining approval to resume commercial whaling. As the meeting continues this week, Japan will also come under scrutiny for a planned expansion of its scientific whaling program to take sperm and Bryde's whales in the north Pacific. Small scale commercial whaling is not sustainable. Economics demand a return to the type of large scale commercial whaling which brought many species of whales to the verge of extinction. But the chair of the IWC scientific committee supports Japan's claims that minke whale populations are abundant enough to sustain commercial harvesting.