Greenpeace Stops Harassing Japanese Whaling Vessels

Greenpeace ended eight days of harassing a Japanese whaling fleet off Antarctica on Thursday, leaving whale-shaped gingerbread cookies to the crews with a note, “If you want to eat whales, eat these.”

The environmental group said that its ship, the Gondwana, is steaming toward a U.S. base on Antarctica’s McMurdo Sound, which it claims is heavily polluted.

“We have finally finished our project here,” said spokesman Paul Bogart, interviewed by radio telephone aboard the Gondwana. “We spent 90 minutes flying over the factory ship and three catcher boats, lowering the packages as a parting gift.”

Bogart said the note attached to the cookies dropped by helicopter read: “We bear no animosity to the Japanese people or members of the Japanese ships.”

He said Greenpeace informed the Japanese skipper of Kyo Maru No. 1, the factory ship, that the environmental organization filmed and photographed the harpooning and electrocution of minke whales during the past week.

Japan says it plans to take 300 whales this year as part of its scientific research to determine the size of whale stocks--despite a moratorium imposed by the International Whaling Commission.