Japan whalers driven from hunting ground

SYDNEY: Anti-whaling activists Sea Shepherd on Tuesday said Japan’s fleet had been separated and driven out of its Antarctic hunting ground, declaring an early success in its campaign to disrupt the annual hunt.

The militant group said the five-vessel fleet was “in disarray” and currently not hunting whales, with the harpoon ships separated from each other by hundreds of miles and the factory ship Nisshin Maru well outside its kill zone.