Sea Shepherd spots Japanese whaler ‘hiding behind iceberg’

Activist group Sea Shepherd’s fast new patrol vessel Ocean Warrior Friday intercepted a Japanese harpoon ship “hiding behind an iceberg” in thick fog as its annual high-seas battle against whaling kicked off.

Two vessels from the environmental organisation left Australia on December 5 bound for the freezing Southern Ocean in the Antarctic for its 11th campaign to disrupt the Japanese hunt.

It said Ocean Warrior, built with financial support from the Dutch, British and Swedish lotteries, had already found one of the harpoon ships which meant the rest of the fleet would be near by.

“The crews of the Ocean Warrior and the Steve Irwin have been battling through thick fog and ice to protect the whales in the Australian whale sanctuary,” said Ocean Warrior captain Adam Meyerson, referring to the sanctuary around Australia’s Antarctic territory.

Map of the area along the Antarctic coast declared a whale sanctuary by Australia

“Finding one of the hunter killer ships hiding behind an iceberg in a thick fog means that the rest of the fleet is nearby.”