Today, November 18, the Japanese whaling fleet left the port of Shimonoseki for the Southern Oceans--in a bid to fill quotas for "scientific research."  The research will involve three state of the art harpoon vessels and an 8000 ton factory ship.  

    935 minke whales, 50 endangered fin whales, 50 threatened humpback whales--the singers of the sea--will be targeted. 

AP reports:

    Families waved little flags emblazoned with smiling whales and the crew raised a toast with cans of beer, while a brass band played "Popeye the Sailor Man." Officials told the crowd that Japan should not give into militant activists and preserve its whale-eating culture.
    "They're violent environmental terrorists," mission leader Hajime Ishikawa told the ceremony. "Their violence is unforgivable ... we must fight against their hypocrisy and lies."
    The whalers plan to kill up to 50 humpbacks in what is believed to be the first large-scale hunt for the once nearly extinct species since a 1963 moratorium in the Southern Pacific put the giant marine mammals under international protection.
    The mission also aims to take as many as 935 minke whales and up to 50 fin whales in what Japan's Fisheries Agency says is its largest-ever scientific whale hunt. The expedition lasts through April.
    Japan says it needs to kill the animals in order to conduct research on their reproductive and feeding patterns. 

    Kinda wonder who the environmental terrorists are here?