Greenpeace ship on anti-whaling campaign

A Greenpeace ship headed by a New Zealand expedition leader is to leave Auckland today to confront a Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean.

Karli Thomas, 31, will lead the 38 crew on board the Esperanza to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, on a campaign expected to last up to seven weeks. Miss Thomas said the campaign was aimed at preventing as many whale deaths as possible and to raise awareness during the whaling season.

She said 82 whales were saved last year in similar campaigns and the activists this year wanted to show the realities of whaling to the Japanese people.

Miss Thomas said confronting the whalers was only part of Greenpeace's strategy with an internet and television campaign launched yesterday targeting Japanese society. Greenpeace wanted Japanese people to become aware of what their Government was doing and put pressure on them to stop.

- NZPA