The annual whale hunt season has arrived in the Southern Seas with the embarkation of the notorious Japanese whalers early this month, undeterred by the expected interception of the anti-whaling group- Sea Shepherd Australia (SSA). The whale activists launched the 10th Antarctic Defense Campaign, dubbed “Operation Relentless, early this month. As in the past nine years or so, this season expects violent vessel clashes between the Japanese and the anti-whaling ”pirates” (referring to Sea Shepherd although the group rejects the misnomer.) Sea Shepherd claims itself to be defenders of the Southern Ocean and all life forms it contains.