Summary
6 January 2014
Australian anti-whaling activists say they're following a Japanese fleet of ships they say has killed four whales in the Southern Ocean. The activists say the whales were killed within a protected whale sanctuary. It's the first such incident this whaling season.
Reporter:
Jon Donnison
A southern right whale swimming in the ocean
Listen
Click to hear the report
Report
The anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd says its boats are following five Japanese ships. The group released video footage apparently showing three dead whales on board, as well as a heavily bloodied deck where another whale appears to have been butchered.
Sea Shepherd says the whales were killed within the internationally designated Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. There is a worldwide ban on the commercial fishing of whales but the Japanese maintain their whaling is for scientific research, which falls outside the ban.
Last year Australia took Japan to the International Court of Justice in an attempt to force it to cease whaling. A decision on the case is expected later this year. But environmentalists here have criticised the Australian government for not doing enough to stop the Japanese.
Listen
Click here to hear the vocabulary
Vocabulary
- footage
piece of film showing a particular event
- bloodied
covered in blood
- butchered
killed and cut into pieces
- designated
officially chosen for a special purpose
- sanctuary
protected and safe place
- to cease
to stop
- environmentalists
people who try to protect natural places from damage caused by human activity
