The two Greenpeace ships Esperanza and Arctic Sunrise have left the Japanese whaling fleet after more than a month of protesting illegal Japanese whaling activities. 

"Greenpeace sent back some haunting and vivid images of the atrocities the Japanese are inflicting upon the defenseless whales of the Southern Ocean." said Captain Paul Watson. "Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd together have completed the most intensive and ambitious campaign ever mounted against Antarctic whaling activities. For 15 days, whales were prevented from being killed."

"Greenpeace officially was not working in cooperation with Sea Shepherd," said 1st Officer Alex Cornelissen of the Farley Mowat. "But we believe we were working in cooperation with them. We had different roles, different tactics, and different strategies but the bottom line is that we were both opposing illegal whaling by Japan."

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society wishes the crews of the Esperanza and Arctic Sunrise a safe voyage back from the Antarctic coast and they look forward to seeing them in Cape Town, South Africa.

"We have a bond with those crewmembers," said Swedish 2nd Officer Peter Hammarstedt of the Farley Mowat. "We weathered the same storms and chased the same whalers over thousands of miles of sea miles in pursuit of the same enemy - the killers of the gentle whales. The crews of all three ships spent their Christmas and New Years away from family and friends to defend the whales"

The Greenpeace ships are expected to arrive in Cape Town around February 5th. The Sea Shepherd ship Farley Mowat is expected to arrive in Cape Town on January 25th.