Japanese Losing Their Appetite for Whale Hunt

TOKYO, Japan--Environmental opponents of Japanese whaling in Antarctica, where recent ocean confrontations have become dangerous, are increasingly reminded of Oscar Wilde's famous dismissal of the tally-ho types who went fox hunting in Britain: "The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable."

Hostility to Japan reached a new level on Jan. 19, when Greenpeace activists dumped a 20-ton, 56-foot fin whale corpse outside the Japanese embassy in Berlin. They were making the point that cadavers like this mammal that had died naturally in the Baltic are available for "scientific research" -- Japan's rationale for its current four-month, southern-sea hunt for the warm-blooded ocean titans.

Up until their whale-dumping protest in Berlin, two boats crewed by Greenpeace activists clashed with Japanese vessels in Antarctic waters for three weeks. Deadly harpoons narrowly missed protesters and vessels collided amid fears of serious injury or death. The New Zealand air force has flown over the site and the Australian government is closely watching.

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