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The environmental group Greenpeace has claimed to have driven Japan's controversial whaling fleet out of Antarctic hunting grounds after a dramatic chase through thick fog and rough seas. Activists¹ have promised to harass² the Japanese fleet and disrupt its plan to kill nearly one thousand minke and fin³ whales.

国际环保组织“绿色和平”表示，经过一场在浓雾和巨浪中的追逐，该组织的活动人士已经成功地将日本派出的有争议的捕鲸船队赶出了南极洲的捕猎地点。该组织的活动人士曾誓言要给日本的船队找麻烦，不让他们捕杀将近一千只长须和小须鲸的计划成功。

The Greenpeace ship Esperanza found six Japanese whaling vessels⁴ over the weekend after 10 days of scouring⁵ the icy waters of the Southern Ocean.

在南极洲冰冷的水面上搜寻了10天之后，“绿色和平”组织的船舰“希望号”在刚刚过去的这个周末发现了六艘日本的捕鲸船只。

The global environmental group has promised to use nonviolent action to stop the ships from killing⁶ whales.

国际环保组织“绿色和平”曾表示，将通过非暴力方式，坚决制止这些船只捕杀鲸鱼。

A Greenpeace spokeswoman, Sarah Holden, says the Japanese vessels "scattered⁷ and ran" when they realized the Esperanza was heading toward them...

该组织的一位发言人候顿女士说，日本的这些船只意识到“希望号”在朝他们驶来的时候，马上“分散逃跑了”。

"They sent one of the hunter vessels to check us out and the rest of them just ran right in front of us and we are going further and further north," she said. "We've chased them out of the whaling grounds. We're very happy about that."

候顿女士说：“他们派了一艘船来查看我们的形势，其他几艘就在我们眼皮底下逃走了。我们一直朝北部方向穷追不舍，最后把他们赶出了捕鲸地点。我们为此非常高兴！”

Greenpeace's success could, however, be short-lived.

但是，“绿色和平”的这一成功有可能只是短暂的。

The Japanese fleet is expected to re-fuel from a tanker⁸ in the area before returning to the hunting grounds.

日本的船队预计会在附近的一个油轮上加了油之后，卷土重来。

Japan plans to catch 935 minke and 50 fin whales over the Antarctic summer for what Tokyo has says are research purposes.

日本要在南极洲目前的夏季期间捕杀935头小须鲸，还有50头长须鲸，并表示这些鲸将被用来做科学实验。

Under worldwide pressure, Japan has given up plans to include 50 humpback whales in this season's hunt.

在国际社会的一再压力下，日本方面已经同意在这个季节的捕猎行动中放弃原计划中要捕杀50条座头鲸的计划。

The Australian government also has a ship shadowing Japan's whaling fleet, and air patrols are watching the hunt.

澳大利亚政府同时也派遣了一艘船来跟踪日本捕鲸船队，并且还在空中对他们的捕杀进行监控。

If they find evidence that Japan is violating international rules on whaling, the Australian government could mount an international court challenge against the whalers.

假如澳大利亚方面有证据显示日本方面违反了国际捕鲸的规则，澳大利亚政府则可能会在国际法庭上对这些捕鲸者提出挑战。

Japan argues that years of a global hunting ban have allowed whale populations to grow enough to allow hunting. Many Japanese say that hunting and eating whales are part of their traditions and should be allowed. Other governments and many environmental groups say, however, that whale populations are too fragile to tolerate hunting. They also complain because Japan sells the meat of whales it harvests for research.

日本方面辩解说，过去很多年来国际上都没有允许捕鲸活动，这就使得鲸的数量已经增加到可以捕杀的程度了。很多日本人都认为捕鲸和食用鲸肉是他们的传统的一部分，应该被允许。但是其它政府和很多国际环保组织都表示，鲸的数目迄今还非常有限，不能捕杀。他们还抱怨说，日本方面说要拿捕杀的鲸去从事研究，实际上那些鲸肉被卖到了市场上。