US Navy To Halt Hunting of Japanese Whaling Vessels for "Scientific Purposes" AP Reports

Dec 20th (Assoc Press)
In an about-face of earlier policy that allowed the hunting of up to 50 Japanese whaling vessels for "scientific study purposes", the US Navy announced today that US submarines would temporarily halt any further culls of Japanese whaling vessels pending a senior policy review. A US Navy spokesperson said the policy reversal had nothing to do with Japan's temporary halt to its deeply unpopular plans to "harvest" up to 50 humpback whales in Anarctic waters in contravention of previous international agreements. The US Navy reiterated its sovereign right to hunt Japanese whaling vessels that contravene international law, and human decency, on the grounds that such "research" is essential to the training and preparedness of America's navy, and thus the defense of America's way of life.