Tuesday, 22 December 2015 

Minke Whale. Photo: Tim WattersA national poll, commissioned by Sea Shepherd Australia and undertaken by Australian market research company Roy Morgan Research, has shown that 76.9% of Australians want the Federal Government to send a ship to oppose Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean.

"An overwhelming majority of Australian voters want to see a vessel head south for the whales. The facts are there: 76.9% of Australians want the Turnbull Government to take action against whaling by Japan. Of the breakdown, almost 70% of Liberal voters also want Prime Minister Turnbull and Environment Minister Hunt to stop turning a blind eye to the slaughter," said Jeff Hansen, Sea Shepherd Australia Managing Director.

"It’s time that the Australian Government represented the wishes of Australians and not the interests of the Japanese whalers, who are backed by the Government of Japan. The Japanese whalers have a $1 million dollar price tag on their heads after being found in contempt of an Australian Federal Court ruling which banned their whaling operations in the Australian Whale Sanctuary. Their so-called 'scientific' research was also found to be illegal by the International Court of Justice.

The Japanese whalers’ explosive, grenade tipped harpoons are primed and on their way to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, intent on killing protected whales, intent on breaking laws, intent on committing crimes. Anything less than sending a vessel would be aiding and abetting in this crime against the whales," concluded Mr Hansen.

View the full poll results here.

Dead Minke Whales Nisshin Maru Deck. Photo: Tim Watters