MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Australia to begin sea-air surveillance of Japanese whalers

Australia will begin sea- and air-based surveillance of Japan's whaling fleet this week foreign affairs minister Stephen Smith announced this week. Australia's center-left Labor government anticipated it would step up action to block Japan from its annual whale hunt, including sending a surveillance plane and a customs ship to gather evidence for a possible international legal challenge.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said the ship, Oceanic Viking, would leave the western city of Perth this week for a 20-day mission in the Antarctic Ocean. An Airbus A-319 used by the Australian government's scientific division in Antarctica will conduct surveillance flights over the Japanese fleet, he said. Critics have accused the government of stalling on its promise to conduct the surveillance mission to ease diplomatic tensions with Japan, a claim Smith rejected Monday. "All of the decisions that were made in respect of the Oceanic Viking have been made on the basis of maximizing the potential of 20 days of successful activity," Smith told reporters in Perth. Japan has staunchly defended its annual killing of more than 1.000 whales, conducted under a clause in International Whaling Commission rules that allows whales to be killed for scientific purposes. Japan had planned to kill up to 50 endangered humpback whales this season, but backed away from the plan last month after strong international condemnation. Australia has said it will consider international legal action against Japan to stop the scientific whaling program, which it dismisses as commercial whaling in disguise. The IWC has banned commercial whaling since 1986. Norway is the only country in the world that allows comercial hunting of whales but Japan and Iceland kill over 2.000 cetaceans annually for "scientific purposes", which according to environmentalist groups such as Greenpeace and the Australian government are an undercover operation for the same trade.