THE WHALE SANCTUARY

The Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is an area of about 5 million square miles, on the fringes of the continent of Antarctica. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has banned all types of commercial whaling there. It was established in 1994 with 23 countries supporting its formation, and Japan opposing it. Most of Sea Shepherd’s activities take place around the 55º–60º S parallels, where least protection is available, and poaching has been rampant. On March 31, 2014, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Japan’s whaling programme—one which the nation has long claimed is for scientific purposes—is just a smoke screen for commercial whaling operations. The ICJ said that by “…. Granting special permits to kill…fin, humpback and Antarctic minke whales….Japan has not acted in conformity with its obligations under paragraph 10 (e) of the Schedule to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.”