Sea Shepherds Using Drones

Environmentalist, anti-whaling group is using unmanned aircraft to track Japanese whale hunters.

Militant whale-hunting opponents have developed a new tactic for tracking whale-hunters: drones. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says it has followed a Japanese ship on its annual Antarctic whale hunt using unmanned aircraft. The Washington-based group claims it has already located the ship and deployed a drone near Australia’s west coast. Their efforts were temporarily thwarted by neighbouring ships who formed a protective barrier and let the whale hunters flee. The Sea Shepherds, who last year blocked the whalers from trapping nearly 900 whales, have vowed to continue to chase the Japanese ship despite international scrutiny. Whale-hunting has been under an international moratorium for 25 years, except for the purposes of scientific study however Japan has often been accused of using scientific study as a cover for its commercial whaling.