A danger is waiting for the world’s largest mammals; many of them will become endangered species in the coming years
In the biggest whale killer, more than 2,000 animals are likely to directly hunted by the three countries counting whaling against world opinion---Japan, Norway and Iceland.
Japan is leading the way among the three. Its whaling ships are firing harpoons(鱼叉) right now in the Antarctic Ocean, hunting for 935 whales. All of them are being hunted under the excuse of killing whales for research purposes. This label is a fiction which fools no one, as whales meat, popular with Japanese consumers, is available on the open market.
Greenpeace has decided to take the fight directly to the Japanese, and has sent two of its large campaigning ships to the Southern Ocean to try to hinder whaling operations directly. Some campaigners are now calling for the anti-whaling countries to take legal action against Japan over the “scientific” whaling problem.
“Scientific whaling needs to be stopped, and legal action needs to be “taken against Japan in the International Court,” said Joth Singh, director of wildlife and habitats for the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
“We believe there is, in fact, an opportunity to do that, and we have contracted a lawyer in Australia who has done an evolution(评估) of the possibilities of legal action. We think that like—minded countries should look at it.
“They need to take this problem to the International Court, because international pressure is required. Trade sanctions(制裁) should certainly be a possibility.” Mr Singh added, “I have been attending IWC meetings for years, and a number of resolutions(提案) which have been passed aimed at stopping scientific whaling have had no effect. Diplomatic notes to Japan have had no effect either.
“If there is any seriousness about saving whales, this seems to be the way.”

世界上最大的哺乳动物正面临着一个危险；在未来数年间，许多这样的哺乳动物将成为濒危物种。

　　在最大的鲸类杀戮者中，超过2000头鲸有可能被三个国家直接捕杀，这三个不顾国际舆论坚持捕鲸的国家是——日本、挪威和冰岛。

　　在三国中，日本居于领先地位，它的捕鲸船目前正在南极大洋发射鱼叉，以捕杀935头鲸。这些鲸都是在开展科学研究的名义下被捕杀的。这个虚假的借口骗不了任何人，因为鲸肉很受日本消费者的欢迎，在自由市场上可以买到。

　　绿色和平组织决定直接向日本抗争，它们向南部大洋派出了两艘大型船只，以便直接阻止（日本的）捕鲸行动。一些活动家正在呼吁反捕鲸的国家就日本的“科研”捕鲸问题采取法律行动。

　　“科研捕鲸应该被阻止，在国际法庭上应该对日本采取法律行动，”国际动物福祉基金会的野生动植物及群落主任乔斯·辛格说道。

　　“我们相信，实际上存在这么做的机会。我们已与一位澳大利亚的律师签约，他曾对采取法律行动的可能性作出了评估。我们认为，（在反对捕鲸方面）见解相仿的国家应该关注此事。”

　　“他们应该把这个问题诉诸国际法庭，因为国际社会的压力是必需的。贸易制裁当然应该成为一种选择。”辛格先生补充道：“我多年来一直参加国际捕鲸委员会的会议，会议通过的旨在停止科研捕鲸的众多提案均未奏效，向日本发出的外交照会也未奏效。”

　　“如果要为保护鲸类采取严肃的行动，这（诉诸国际法庭）看上去是正确的方法。”