International Whaling Commission

TOKYO - The United States is pushing Japan to suspend its hunt of humpback whales, and the American ambassador to Tokyo said yesterday an agreement to stop it may have already been reached. Japan dispatched its whaling fleet last month to the Southern Pacific in the first major hunt of humpbacks since the 1960s. Commercial hunts of humpbacks have been banned worldwide since 1966. Word of a possible delay in the hunt came as the Australian government said it would send planes and a ship to conduct surveillance of Japanese whaling ships off Antarctica.

AGADIR, Morocco — Native people of Greenland won a long battle yesterday to extend their annual whale hunt to humpbacks, overriding objections from conservation-minded members of the International Whaling Commission. The decision came at the end of a contentious five-day meeting that failed to resolve a larger dispute: a proposal to suspend a quarter-century ban on commercial whaling in exchange for a promise by the three whaling countries — Japan, Norway, and Iceland — to reduce the numbers they kill in defiance of the ban. The commission decided on a one-year “pause’’ in...

WADA, Japan -- Machetes in hand, two-dozen rubber-booted workers hacked into the bloody carcass of a Baird's beaked whale yesterday, as this small Japanese seaside community began its whaling season with its first catch. The Japanese involved in hunting and slaughtering whales are on the front lines of their country's campaign to overturn the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling, an effort boosted this week when the International Whaling Commission narrowly passed a resolution endorsing a resumption of the whale hunt.

AGADIR, Morocco — An international effort to truly limit whale hunting collapsed yesterday, leaving Japan, Norway, and Iceland free to keep killing hundreds of mammals a year, even raiding a marine sanctuary in Antarctic waters unchecked. The breakdown put diplomatic efforts on ice for at least a year, raised the possibility that South Korea might join the whaling nations, and raised questions about the global drive to prevent the extinction of the most endangered whale species.

SYDNEY - Scientists from Australia and New Zealand are to set out on a whale research expedition to the Antarctic tomorrow in an effort to disprove Japan’s argument that whales must be killed to be studied. The results of the six-week expedition are central to the whaling debate because Japan is allowed to kill whales provided it’s for research. Still, no matter what the outcome, both sides acknowledge it will likely do little to change Japan’s support for whaling. “You can always come up with some question that will require an animal to be killed for something or other,’’ said...

FRIGATE BAY, St. Kitts -- A slim majority of nations on the International Whaling Commission voted yesterday in support of a resumption of commercial whaling, but pro-whaling nations still lack the numbers needed to overturn a 20-year-old ban. The resolution, approved 33 to 32 with one abstention, declares that the moratorium on commercial whaling was meant to be temporary and is no longer needed. But to reverse the ban imposed in 1986, another vote supported by 75 percent of the 70 commission members would be required.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Repair crews have restarted the main engine of a Japanese whaling ship crippled by a fire a week ago near Antarctica, but the vessel has not yet moved under its own power, an official said today. The Nisshin Maru was stricken by a fire on Feb. 15 that killed one crew member, burned out the main switchboards, and engulfed the whale-processing deck. The cause of the fire has not been determined. The ship's engine was started overnight, said Glenn Inwood, spokesman for the Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research.

AGADIR, Morocco — Native people of Greenland won a long battle yesterday to extend their annual whale hunt to humpbacks, overriding objections from conservation-minded members of the International Whaling Commission. The decision came at the end of a contentious five-day meeting that failed to resolve a larger dispute: a proposal to suspend a quarter-century ban on commercial whaling in exchange for a promise by the three whaling countries — Japan, Norway, and Iceland — to reduce the numbers they kill in defiance of the ban. The commission decided on a...

TOKYO — Nations will consider whether to sanction commercial whale hunts for the first time in a quarter-century next week, a compromise to coax Japan into ending an annual cull of hundreds of the sea mammals in a sanctuary in the Antarctic. The broader goal at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Morocco that begins Monday is to fix a fractured regulatory system in which a handful of whaling nations operate under a complex set of exemptions. The focus will be on Japan, the strongest advocate of modern whaling.

AGADIR, Morocco — An international effort to truly limit whale hunting collapsed yesterday, leaving Japan, Norway, and Iceland free to keep killing hundreds of mammals a year, even raiding a marine sanctuary in Antarctic waters unchecked. The breakdown put diplomatic efforts on ice for at least a year, raised the possibility that South Korea might join the whaling nations, and raised questions about the global drive to prevent the extinction of the most endangered whale species.

TOKYO — Nations will consider whether to sanction commercial whale hunts for the first time in a quarter-century next week, a compromise to coax Japan into ending an annual cull of hundreds of the sea mammals in a sanctuary in the Antarctic. The broader goal at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Morocco that begins Monday is to fix a fractured regulatory system in which a handful of whaling nations operate under a complex set of exemptions. The focus will be on Japan, the strongest advocate of modern whaling.

SYDNEY - Scientists from Australia and New Zealand are to set out on a whale research expedition to the Antarctic tomorrow in an effort to disprove Japan’s argument that whales must be killed to be studied. The results of the six-week expedition are central to the whaling debate because Japan is allowed to kill whales provided it’s for research. Still, no matter what the outcome, both sides acknowledge it will likely do little to change Japan’s support for whaling. “You can always come up with some question that will require an animal to be killed for...

NEW YORK - Animal Planet's desire to become less warm and fuzzy means exposure to some unaccustomed issues, such as danger on the high seas and journalistic fairness. A network crew returned to port in Australia last week after tagging along on a mission to interfere with a Japanese whaling expedition in the Antarctic. A miniseries about the experience, "Whale Wars," is expected to air this fall. To make the series, Animal Planet worked with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, activists considered heroic defenders of wildlife or dangerous meddlers,...

TOKYO - The United States is pushing Japan to suspend its hunt of humpback whales, and the American ambassador to Tokyo said yesterday an agreement to stop it may have already been reached. Japan dispatched its whaling fleet last month to the Southern Pacific in the first major hunt of humpbacks since the 1960s. Commercial hunts of humpbacks have been banned worldwide since 1966. Word of a possible delay in the hunt came as the Australian government said it would send planes and a ship to conduct surveillance of Japanese whaling ships off Antarctica.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Repair crews have restarted the main engine of a Japanese whaling ship crippled by a fire a week ago near Antarctica, but the vessel has not yet moved under its own power, an official said today. The Nisshin Maru was stricken by a fire on Feb. 15 that killed one crew member, burned out the main switchboards, and engulfed the whale-processing deck. The cause of the fire has not been determined. The ship's engine was started overnight, said Glenn Inwood, spokesman for the Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research.

WADA, Japan -- Machetes in hand, two-dozen rubber-booted workers hacked into the bloody carcass of a Baird's beaked whale yesterday, as this small Japanese seaside community began its whaling season with its first catch. The Japanese involved in hunting and slaughtering whales are on the front lines of their country's campaign to overturn the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling, an effort boosted this week when the International Whaling Commission narrowly passed a resolution endorsing a resumption of the whale hunt.

NEW YORK - Animal Planet's desire to become less warm and fuzzy means exposure to some unaccustomed issues, such as danger on the high seas and journalistic fairness. A network crew returned to port in Australia last week after tagging along on a mission to interfere with a Japanese whaling expedition in the Antarctic. A miniseries about the experience, "Whale Wars," is expected to air this fall. To make the series, Animal Planet worked with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, activists considered heroic defenders of wildlife or dangerous meddlers, depending on your politics.

LOS ANGELES — Long held as an environmental success story after being taken off the endangered list in 1994, California gray whales draw legions of fans into boats or atop cliffs to watch the leviathans lumber down the coast to spawning grounds in Baja. But whale-watching skippers became alarmed after sightings dropped from 25 a day in good years to 5 a day this season. Such anecdotal evidence has left conservationists and state officials worried about the whale’s future, especially now. The federal government’s monitoring of the mammals has fallen off in...

FRIGATE BAY, St. Kitts -- A slim majority of nations on the International Whaling Commission voted yesterday in support of a resumption of commercial whaling, but pro-whaling nations still lack the numbers needed to overturn a 20-year-old ban. The resolution, approved 33 to 32 with one abstention, declares that the moratorium on commercial whaling was meant to be temporary and is no longer needed. But to reverse the ban imposed in 1986, another vote supported by 75 percent of the 70 commission members would be required.