The Japanese whaling factory ship Nisshin Maru has left port today in what Sea Shepherd believes is the departure of the whaling fleet for the Antarctic.
Nisshin Maru loaded fuel and headed out from its dock in Innoshima, southern Japan, in the late morning, watching Sea Shepherd activists said.
No confirmation of its destination was available from Japanese authorities, who do not comment on the fleet's movements.
However the departure closely follows an announcement by the Japan Coast Guard that its officers would accompany the fleet to protect the whalers, forced out of the Southern Ocean by the activists last summer.
"We have decided to beef up security as never before," a Coast Guard official told Kyodo News.
He refrained from specifics, including how many guardsmen would be aboard the vessels or what kind of equipment they might carry.
In previous years the fleet has left in November.
Greenpeace International whales campaigner John Frizell said the relatively late sailing could mean the whalers would not reach their hunting grounds far south of Australia until the new year.
Sea Shepherd's fleet is also making final preparations, with the ships Steve Irwin and Brigitte Bardot in Fremantle and the Bob Barker in Hobart.
The federal Environment Minister, Tony Burke, has repeated that there are "no plans" to send a government vessel to monitor the conflict, which this year is likely to occur in Australia's search and rescue zone.
However Mr Burke refused to finally rule out the use of a ship such as Customs' Southern Ocean patrol vessel, Ocean Protector.
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/whale-watch/nisshin-maru-on-the-move-20111206-1ogm4.html
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