No word on Japanese whaling halt

There is no confirmation Japan's whaling fleet has abandoned its annual Antarctic hunt, despite reports that the mother ship has veered off its southerly course and is heading west.
Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson says the anti-whaling group's crews will continue to follow the fleet and monitor the movements of the factory ship Nisshin Maru.
He said the Sea Shepherd crew would only celebrate victory once the whaling boats had left the Southern Ocean.
He said the Nisshin Maru was seen, while heading south toward the South Atlantic, to make an abrupt change to a westerly direction.
"That could mean one of two things. They're coming west on a great circle back to Japan or they're coming back to the whaling grounds," he told AAP on Thursday.
"We're staying down here to monitor what they're doing to make sure they don't kill any whales. We're down here as long as they are."
Environment Minister Tony Burke said there had been conflicting reports about the Japanese ships abandoning the hunt.
"At this point, we do not have any statement from the Japanese government to us confirming that this season of whaling is at an end," Mr Burke told reporters in Canberra.
"Even if we were to get reports of that nature, I have to say, in the view of the Australian government, it is not a time to celebrate until we get a decision from Japan that they are stopping whaling for good."
Japanese Fisheries Agency official Tatsuya Nakaoku said the Nisshin Maru had suspended operations since February 10 to ensure the safety of the crew.
"We are now studying the situation, including the possibility of cutting the mission early," he said, stressing that "nothing has been decided at this point".
Mr Watson, speaking from the Sea Shepherd 2,000 nautical miles southeast of New Zealand, speculated that the Japanese whalers had only been able to kill up to 50 whales this season.
"Every year, we come down here stronger and they come here weaker," he said.
"We're actually probably in a situation where we're actually better equipped financially than the whaling fleet for the first time."
Australian Greens leader Bob Brown said there would be a terrific celebration when Sea Shepherd returned to Hobart if the Japanese had suspended their hunt.
"The rapidly brightening prospects of Japan removing its whaling fleet from Antarctic waters will have Australians putting champagne on ice, coast to coast," Senator Bob Brown said.
Federal opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt said while he hoped the whaling halt by the Japanese ships was permanent, he expected it would be temporary.
"There's very little doubt in my mind that the whalers want to come back next summer," he said.
"Whatever the reasons now, and it does appear pretty much to be economic and related to the front itself, they want to come back and they will come back unless there are practical steps taken internationally to stop that."