After considerable pressure and the threat of a formal protest by the Australian government (with support from the US, the UK, Canada, and New Zealand), Japanese officials have announced that plans to hunt humpback whales have been postponed. Japan sets a hunting quota of more than 1,000 whales yearly despite international agreements protecting the various species, and while humpbacks are safe for now, the Japanese whaling fleet remains in the Antarctic.

Iceland and Norway have also continued to lead the push to hunt whales for “scientific purposes.” Drew Wong asks in the forums if this latest move by Japan is a “token gesture or another stepping stone [towards expanded whale conservation]?”