Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary
In 1938, the IWC established a sanctuary in the Antarctic. Forty-one years later the Indian Ocean Sanctuary was established and in 1994 IWC adopted the Southern Ocean Sanctuary as another area in which commercial whaling is prohibited.
So why does Japan actively hunt whales in these sanctuaries?
Well, according to Japan’s interpretation of the sanctuary statutes, whaling is still allowed for “scientific research.” Therefore, Japan regularly slaughters whales in these sanctuaries and chalks it up to “research.”
Japan runs their scientific program under the acronym of JARPA, which stands for JApanese whale Research Program in the Antarctic.
Under JARPA, Japan kills over 1,000 whales annually in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary alone.
Another protected whale slaughtered by the Japanese for "research."
Yet, despite being called out by the IWC on its ridiculous research claims, Japan refuses to stop its whale slaughter.
