The retreating Japanese fleet has turned around and are heading South again.

When the Sea Shepherd ships broke away from the northbound whaling fleet, they did so in order to conserve fuel for the long trip back to Melbourne. But before parting ways, Sea Shepherd crew members placed a tracking device on the Sun Laurel to monitor their progress northward.

The Sun Laurel has now turned around and is heading south again and this can only indicate that the Nisshin Maru has also turned and is heading south. Although there are very few days left in the whaling season, there is still the possibility that the Nisshin Maru can refuel and return for a few days of whaling; although they will not be able to kill many whales, the death of even a few is of grave concern to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

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“It is still three days back to the whaling grounds with no more than a week left to kill whales and the weather is getting progressively worse,” said Captain Siddharth Chakravarty of the Steve Irwin.

“It is not economically practical for the whalers to return at this late date,” said Sea Shepherd Australia director Jeff Hansen. “But this is no longer about whaling. It is about the Japanese government not appearing weak. They have been humiliated by Sea Shepherd. They are returning to the Southern Ocean so they can claim they were not chased out by Sea Shepherd, even though it is very clear they were. It looks like we will have to chase them out of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary once more”

With the weather deteriorating, the seas becoming rougher, with the plankton blooms dispersed so also have the whales become dispersed, the conditions are no longer easy for whaling operations.