Japanese whaling must stop now

The Japanese are still insisting on whaling in the southern ocean adjacent to Australia's Antarctic Territory. Their excuses for this appalling slaughter of whales are nonsense.

They claim they kills whales for scientific purposes, yet there are no scientific publications of any consequence resulting. One whale maybe, but certainly not a thousand.

They claim it is a traditional activity and that they like to eat whale meat. This is a direct contradiction to the first excuse, and it is also false. The Japanese have no traditions of eating whale meat, and have only recently engaged in large marketing campaigns in Japan to get people to eat more.

The Japanese do not need to kill or eat whales. This barbaric activity must stop.

A Japanese escort ship has just rammed and sunk the Andy Gill, one of Sea Shepherd's boats attempting to prevent them whaling. This is a deliberate and hostile action that could easily have resulted in a loss of life.

The Australian Government (Peter Garrett and Kevin Rudd) must take immediate action to enforce international law regarding the protection of whales, and they must send a ship to the Southern Ocean to ensure that peace is kept and no deaths result.

As individuals we can also boycott all Japanese goods and products until they stop the whaling