Japan bid to end whale sanctuary

ULSAN, South Korea:Anti-whaling countries will try to thwart a Japanese-led attempt to abolish a whale sanctuary in the southern seas and condemn Tokyo for continuing to catch the huge mammals in the name of science.Japan has already suffered two setbacks at this year's meeting of the 66-member International Whaling Commission in Ulsan, a former whaling port in the southeast of the Korean peninsula.Japan is proposing abolishing a "Southern Ocean Sanctuary" set up by the commission to protect whales in southern seas from commercial whaling. Japan can still conduct its scientific whaling in those seas because of loopholes in the rules."There is no scientific justification whatsoever for lethal, scientific whaling," said Richard Cowan, Britain's delegate to the meeting.Whaling states such as Japan and Norway say whaling is a cherished part of their culture...