Japanese whalers had a quota of 850 minke whales for the just-ended hunting season but are heading home having caught only 551, which the country’s Fisheries Agency blames on “sabotage by activists.” The militant Sea Shepherd Society had been all up in whalers’ biz throughout the season. Anti-whalers were quick to point out that hunters admitted to catching zero fin whales, instead of 50, because they didn’t spot very many. A hard time finding whales, says Greenpeace’s Junichi Sato, “is a good reason why they should not conduct lethal research.”

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