The anti-whaling ship Bob Barker has docked in Wellington harbour on March 21,
after what its captain says is its most successful mission ever in thwarting Japanese whalers
in the Southern Ocean.
The ship, which was part of the Sea Shepherd fleet, has completed 95 days in the area attempting
to stop whalers from killing 935 minke whales, 50 endangered fin whales
and 50 endangered humpback whales.
"They kill these whales within a designated whale sanctuary, they kill these whales despite
a global moratorium on commercial whaling and they kill these whales within the bounds
of the Antarctic treaty, the ship's captain Peter Hammarstedt said.
The Japanese whaling industry had not yet released the number of whales they had killed
this year, but Mr Hammarstedt said he was confident the whaling fleet had not reached
"even a quarter of their bogus self allocated quota''.
"We are confident that this campaign - one of the most successful campaigns we've had to date
in the Southern Ocean has led to more than 750 whales saved.''
Long live the whales!
