Fleet leaves for last scientific whaling in north Japan waters

Four Japanese whaling vessels left a port in northeastern Japan on Thursday to conduct what the government calls a scientific research program for the last time before the country leaves the International Whaling Commission at the end of June.The ships, which left Ayukawa port in Miyagi Prefecture, will join four other vessels from different areas of Japan on the mission to catch up to 80 minke whales in April and May off Miyagi and Aomori prefectures to gather data on the whale population and their approximate ages among other information.They will also look into the animals' stomach conte…READ FULL ARTICLE