A SHIP of Greenpeace anti-whaling activists anchored in Japan today, ending a nearly week-long standoff after the country's sailors' union blocked the vessel from arriving.

The Dutch-flagged Esperanza, which trailed Japan's whaling fleet for more than a month in the Antarctic, sailed into Yokohama, a major port just south of Tokyo.

GREENPEACE'S anti-whaling ship Esperanza has been "effectively banned" from docking in Tokyo, a spokeswoman for the environmental group said today, less than a day before it hoped to bring its campaign to Japan.

Earlier, the head of Japan's latest whaling hunt called for legal action against anti-whaling activists who clashed with Japan's fleet during an Antarctic hunt cut short by a fatal fire.

THE head of Japan's latest whale hunt called for legal action today against anti-whaling activists who clashed with Japan's fleet during an Antarctic hunt cut short by a fatal fire.

But neither the Japanese Government nor the institute that oversees its whaling program said they were considering such a move.

Japan's main whaling ship, the 8000-tonne Nisshin Maru, limped into port last Friday with a haul of 508 whales after a fire last month that killed one crew member, crippled the ship and raised fears that oil or chemicals could spill into the Southern Ocean near the world's biggest Adelie penguin colony.

Talley's Fisheries managing director Peter Talley says he is pro-whaling, pro-genetic engineering, anti-animal rights, anti-MMP and sceptical about global warming.

Talley made his controversial views known in a speech to 200 high school students at a leadership forum organised by Motueka High School and held at Seifried Estate.

Japan's main whaling ship limped into port today with a haul of 508 whales after an Antarctic hunt marked by confrontations with environmentalists and cut short by a fatal fire.

The blaze aboard the Nisshin Maru, the 8,000-tonne flagship of Japan's whaling fleet, killed one crew member, crippled the ship and raised fears at one point that oil or chemicals could spill into the Southern Ocean, close to the world's biggest Adelie penguin breeding colony.

The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WCDS), "the global voice for the protection of whales, dolphins and their environment", has launched a "life size blue whale interactive banner", which can be seen here.

Washington, D.C. (Nov 20, 2006 19:09 EST) A new study has revealed that humpback whales are capable of emanating as many as 622 social sounds.

Scientists believe the whales' broad vocal repertoire enables them to communicate with their fellow whales, like summoning their young or even wooing potential mates by expressing emotions.

Shimonoseki, Japan (Nov 14, 2006 17:15 EST) The Government of Japan will tomorrow launch a fleet of six boats from Arukaport to commence a new season of whale hunting, despite a global moratorium and international outcry against commercial whaling. Japan’s self-allocated whaling quota permits its whalers to kill up to 935 minke and 10 endangered fin whales.

Oslo - Norwegian hunters killed 546 minke whales this year, falling far short of their commercial whaling quota because bad weather spoilt much of the season, government and industry officials said on Monday.

Norway resumed commercial hunts of minke whales in 1993 despite an international moratorium, and raised its quota in 2006 to 1 052, the highest in two decades.

The owner of an Icelandic whaling company says he plans to export fin-whale meat to Japan, despite an international trade ban, Britain's Daily Telegraph reports in its online edition.

Kristjan Loftsson, the chief executive of the whaling company Hvalur, says there is "no problem" about finding markets for the meat in Japan and "no restriction on whale exports to Japan", the Telegraph reports.

By Lewis Smith, Environment Reporter

Tourists are turning their backs on Iceland because the country is resuming commercial whaling, a tour operator claims. Whale watching is one of Iceland’s main tourist attractions, but bookings have fallen 25 per cent in the two weeks since it has resumed hunting.

Yesterday Alp Mehmet, the British ambassador to Iceland, led a delegation of 25 ambassadors from anti-whaling nations to deliver a “strongly worded” letter to the country’s Foreign Affairs Ministry.

SOURCES from the international marine conservation organisation Oceana have indicated that the Icelandic vessel Hvalur 9 had captured a fin whale 200 miles from the coast. This is the second one to be caught in as many weeks.

These same sources point out that it may be months before this whale meat can be sold, because it must undergo a series of chemical analyses outside of the country in order to guarantee that it meets the required health standards for human consumption.

Press Release from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

A study of ten beaked whales of two poorly understood species shows their foraging dives are deeper and longer than those reported for any other air-breathing species.

This extreme deep-diving behavior is of particular interest since beaked whales stranded during naval sonar exercises have been reported to have symptoms of decompression sickness. One goal of the study was to explore whether the extreme diving behavior of beaked whales puts them at a special risk from naval sonar exercises.

(ANTIGUA & BARBUDA) The Sea Shepherd purchase of the Leviathan, in its campaign to stop Japanese whaling, has been stymied by the government of Antigua, where the Leviathan is presently registered.

Antigua is a tourist-unfriendly, pro-whaling nation that has admitted accepting bribes from Japan in exchange for IWC pro-whaling votes.