NSW: Sydney company offers free whale-watching for Japanese

AAP General News (Australia)
12-14-2007
NSW: Sydney company offers free whale-watching for Japanese

By Stephanie Gardiner

SYDNEY, Dec 14 AAP - A Sydney company will offer free whale watching trips to visiting
Japanese as part of a campaign against their country's whale slaughter.

Whale Watching Sydney says it hopes to raise Japanese people's awareness of the importance
of protecting whales through close encounters with the giant mammals.

The tour operator will give free cruises next year to anyone with a Japanese passport.

The company's manager, Will Ford, said Japanese who took advantage of the offer would
be educated about Australians' love of whales and their objections to the whaling industry.

"It seems like they don't really have a good idea ... so hopefully the idea is to sort
of break through that and show them what is worth being protected," Mr Ford said.

"Hopefully it tips the balance and stops the whaling ... even if it doesn't do it in
2008 and it does it (the) next year, then it will be well worth the cost and the involvement."

Mr Ford said very few tourists favoured whale hunting once they saw the mammals in the wild.

"There are very few people who come out and do a whale-watching cruise and then go
away thinking that it's still okay to eat them or to hunt them," he said.

Mr Ford said he hoped other whale watching cruise companies would introduce similar deals.

Whale Watching Sydney cruises are normally priced at $80 for an adult.

AAP sg/was/jl/bwl

KEYWORD: WHALING TOURISTS

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