More than half the whales killed by Japanese whalers in the Antarctic last summer were pregnant females. The Mercury, in Hobart, Tasmania, reports on the claims of the Humane Society International that of the 505 Antarctic minke whales killed, 262 were pregnant females, while one of the three giant fin whales killed was also pregnant. The findings came from a review of Japanese reports from their most recent 2006-07 whale hunt in Antarctic waters and were released ahead of the resumption of an Australian Federal Court case the HSI is taking against Japanese whaling company Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd. “These are gruesome statistics that the Japanese government dresses up as science,” HSI spokeswoman Nicola Beynon said in a statement. “The full hearing will be to determine whether Japanese whalers are in breach of Australian law when they hunt whales in the Australian Whale Sanctuary in Antarctica and whether the court will issue an injunction for the hunt to be stopped,” Ms Beynon said. . . Fingers crossed. JULIA WHITTY
