The non-governmental Whale Conservation Institute of Argentina is celebrating the International Maritime Organization's decision to regulate navigation in Antarctica's waters in order to protect the environment. The IMO, a United Nations agency, elaborated a series of measures in July, to take effect in 2011, such as limiting fuel use and reinforcing the hulls of the tanker ships that ply the waters of the Southern Atlantic, where the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is located.

“Beyond protecting the waters, the regulation puts the brakes on Japan's program of hunting whales for scientific purposes,” because its factory ships will not be able to meet the requirements, the Institute's Roxana Steimberg told Tierramérica.

According to the Institute, Japan captures around 900 whales in the Southern Atlantic and Northern Pacific each year.