In recent days, the publication of graphic whaling photos showing the reality of Japanese whale hunting has outraged the international community and added fuel to the anti-whaling campaign.

Video footage and photograph stills of two dead whales – claimed by some to be mother and calf – have circulated throughout the world. The images were captured by the Oceanic Viking, an Australian ship sent to make a visual record of Japanese whaling activity. The photographs will be used as evidence in planned legal action by the Australian Government, in a bid to stop illegal whaling in the Southern Ocean.

Greenpeace Japan’s website has been inundated with thousands of visits every day from Japanese citizens questioning the need for whale hunting – either for scientific research or as a source of food. While Japanese whalers claim the images of whale slaughter are all part of the anti-whaling campaign’s “emotional propaganda”, the footage has reignited the issue of whaling and triggered outrage around the world.

Mark Rocket, an ardent anti-whaling supporter, said:

Whaling has to stop. For the Japanese whaling establishment to say that they are killing thousands of whales for research is a blatant lie. It is clear to everyone that they are processing these whales for food… because whale meat is openly sold! Do they also want to kill thousands of Japanese cranes or snow monkeys to ‘research’ them?

Whales are protected by a 1986 moratorium; since then, Japan has used a ’scientific research’ loophole to justify the slaughter of thousands of endangered whales. This year, Japanese whaling was halted for 14 days when the Esperanza, a Greenpeace vessel, pursued the Nisshin Maru whaling fleet and brought worldwide attention to Japanese whaling activity. For the first time, media coverage and public debate on the issue is being openly aired in Japan, forcing Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda to raise the issue in Parliament.

Will it be enough to save the whales? To show your support, sign the Dominion Post’s anti-whaling petition or become a Greenpeace Whale Defender.

Image from Flickr.