Graphic Australian video of Japanese whaling released

SYDNEY: Activist group Sea Shepherd yesterday released graphicvideoofJapanesefishermen harpooning whales in the Southern Ocean after a long battle with the Australian government to make the images public.

Filmed in 2008 by customs officials aboard an Australian patrol vessel, the images show Japanese boats in Antarctic waters harpooning the whales and then dragging their bodies out of bloodied waters.

Sea Shepherd initiated a freedom of information ( FOI) request in 2012 to obtain the film from the Australian department of border protection, but was repeatedly refused with the government citing potential damage to ‘international relations’.

The images were finally ordered released earlier this year after an appeal to Australia’s Information Commissioner, who has power to review government agency FOI decisions.

“The Australian Government has suppressed this footage for years. The main reason given was that the images of this horrific slaughter would harm diplomatic relationships with Japan,” Sea Shepherd’s managing director Jeff Hansen said in a statement. “The Australian Government has chosen to side with the poachers instead of defending the whales of the Southern Ocean,” he said.

Sea Shepherd has waged an often violent 12-year high- seas battle against whaling in the Southern Ocean, claiming success for saving thousands of the giant mammals and bringing the slaughter to world attention.