Japan suspends annual whale hunt

The Australian government said on Thursday they were not satisfied with Japan's suspension of whaling in Antarctic waters and vowed to continue their separate campaigns to force a permanent end to the hunt. Japan's government yesterday announced it had suspended its annual whale hunt due to repeated harassment of its whalers by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ships.

It said the suspension began February 10 and would last until conditions were deemed safe.

Patrick Ramage, Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s Global Whale Programme, said: "We hope this is a first sign of Japanese government decision makers recognizing there is no future for whaling in the 21st Century and that responsible whale watching, the only genuinely sustainable use of whales, is now the best way forward for a great nation like Japan."

Listen to the full interview by Charles Collins with Patrick Ramage: