Japan whaling fleet departs with new ship TOKYO (Reuters) - Complete with Japan's first new whaler in 26 years, the country's whaling fleet set sail for waters off Antarctica, Greenpeace International said Saturday. The boats left Friday from their home port of Shimonoseki. The new $14 million Yushin Maru, harpoon mounted on the bow, is part of a fleet of five just sent to the Southern Ocean for the 12th year in a row, despite calls by the International Whaling Commission for Japan to stop whaling there. As the fleet set sail on its "scientific" mission, the World Wide Fund for Nature accused Japan of defying international opinion by boosting its catch of whales from sanctuary areas while claiming it was doing so for research. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556980315-2da>
