Sea Shepherd relocates the Japanese whaling fleet

Japanese harpoon vessel, Yushin Maru No. 1, sailing in treacherous ice fields during a pursuit with Sea Shepherd vessel the Steve Irwin. Photo credit: Adam Lau/Sea Shepherd

The fleet was located at 0930 hours on February 1st (Sydney, Australia time) at the position of 67 Degrees 18 Minutes South and 163 Degrees 52 Minutes West. This is 2100 nautical miles Southeast of Hobart, Australia in the middle of the Ross Sea.

"We are 7 miles from the fleet and approaching. We see the Nisshin Maru and two harpoon vessels the Yushin Maru #1 and the Yushin Maru #2," said Captain Paul Watson. "They appear to be whaling and are moving. As we approached closer they began to move full speed towards the open ocean. The Steve Irwin has engaged both engines and we are slowly closing the gap."

There is a lot of loose ice and moderate patches of fog. The winds are at forty knots which means the helicopter cannot be deployed.

The Steve Irwin is now in close pursuit of the Japanese whaling fleet.