Japanese whalers have been caught with a dead minke whale in protected waters

A Japanese whaling ship has been caught with a dead minke whale on board while sailing through protected Australian waters, according to anti-whaling group, Sea Shepherd.

The group says it captured images of the whale carcass yesterday as their helicopter flew over the Japanese ship, Nisshin Maru, in Australia’s Antarctic whale sanctuary. This is the first documented killing since the International Court of Justice deemed Japan’s Antarctic whaling illegal back in 2014.

"The Nisshin Maru was spotted by the helicopter ... at 12:34am GMT (11:34am AEDT) at a position of 64 57.6S - 085 09.6E, within the Australian Whale Sanctuary," Sea Shepherd reports.

Once the Sea Shepherd helicopter captured images of the minke whale, one of group’s anti-whaling ships, the Steve Irwin, intercepted the Japanese whalers, and watched them try to hide the evidence.

According to the group, the whalers first covered the carcass with a tarpaulin, and then covered its harpoons so they could no longer be photographed.
 [sciencealert.com]
16/1/17
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