Pete Bethune, Earthrace Conserva- of Russia and Korea which had the decition, applauded the International sion favored Japan had been expected to
court verdict on Japanese whaling.
introduce research whaling programs of
their own”.
In March 2014, the International Court
of Justice in The Hague found in favor Bethune had his boat, the Ady Gil, deof Australia and New Zealand in the stroyed when it was run over by a Japacourt case against Japan’s so-called Re- nese security vessel in Antarctica in
search Whaling in Antarctica.
January 2010. He then spent five
months in a maximum-security prison in
Pete Bethune, who was at the court for Japan after he illegally boarded the vesthe original case in June 2013 and today sel that had nearly taken the lives of
to hear the verdict, said, “I am abso- himself and his crew.
lutely thrilled. Today will go down in
history as a great day for whales, for This period saw such intense public outconservation and for justice.”
cry over research whaling, that the Australian government announced it was
taking Japan to the International Court
of Justice. Bethune remembers the day
when he heard the news in prison. “I
went down to meet my lawyer, and the
first thing she said to me was Australia
had taken the court action against Japan
over whaling. I burst into tears. I was
optimistic that any decent judicial system would find against Japan, and to
finally see it become a reality is amazing.”
He said, “The verdict makes Japan’s
Research Whaling program, which has
killed many thousands of whales in the
name of science, illegal. It also halts any
likely copycat programs from the likes
8
“Japan argued the court had no jurisdiction to decide what legitimate research
was, and that Japan could choose its
research programs as it liked. They also
presented some of their research findings, although none but the most oneeyed would accept them as being valued
by the Scientific-community”.
The verdict is binding for all three countries and cannot be appealed. Japan has
little choice now but to cease their whaling program in the Southern Ocean
Whale Sanctuary.
Bethune spoke to several senior Japanese delegates after the verdict was announced and says they indicated that
while they were very disappointed with
the outcome, they would abide by the
Bethune always felt that Japan’s case ruling and not go back to Antarctica.
was weak. “They used a loophole in the
original IWC regulations that allowed According to Bethune, the one drawfor nations to conduct their own re- back with the court case is it only adsearch-whaling program”, he said.
dressed Japan’s scientific whaling pro-