After 30 Years, Japanese Ships Prepare to Resume Commercial Whaling

Japanese whaling ships prepared on June 30 to set to sea, with crews gathering on decks a day ahead of Japan’s first commercial whaling hunt.

Whaling ships which are set to join the resumption of commercial whaling at anchor at a port in Kushiro, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan on June 30, 2019. Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

KUSHIRO, Japan—Japanese whaling ships prepared on Sunday to set to sea, with crews gathering on decks in a northern port a day ahead of Japan’s first commercial whaling hunt in more than 30 years.

Japan announced last year it was leaving the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and would resume commercial whaling on July 1, sparking global condemnation and fears for the world’s whales.

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