Look who's come to the party...

Picture courtesy of The Australian (You may recognise the boat from our logo, before Yushin was changed to Sushi)


So the Rudd government is going to take international legal action against The Whaling Fleet at the International Court of Justice.

But is it a last ditch effort for some green credentials before the federal election?  Does it matter, if it means they're finally going to take action on whaling?

It is interesting timing for the move. And after backing down on their proposed Carbon Trading Scheme, and doing nothing about the Japanese whaling fleet all through the hunting season, Labor are in dire need of some green votes for the up-coming election.

Also, it sounds very unlikely that the action will do anything more than strain Australia's relations with Japan.  Apparently the International Whaling Committee is meeting in June, and it is likely they will approve Japan's request for a commercial kill quota of 410 whales per year.  This will mean, that even if Australia successfully stop the Japanese whaling for 'Scientific' reasons, there will be little they can do to stop The Commercial Whaling Fleet.

Still, I'm happy to see the government taking a position and letting the Japanese know we're serious about the issue. Hopefully some other nations follow our lead. In the meantime, it's going to be Sea Shepherd down there defending our mammal friends. So if you fell strongly about this issue, head over there and lend them some support.