Most oppose whaling, Greenpeace finds

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- The vast majority of responders to a Greenpeace survey told interviewers that wanted the White House to strengthen the ban on commercial whaling.

In a telephone survey of 1,004 adults during December, Greenpeace reported that 69 percent of the participants answered negatively when asked if they were in favor of Japan sending a whaling fleet to the Southern Ocean to catch whales, some of which are endangered species.

When asked if U.S. President Barack Obama should stand by a campaign pledge to strengthen the international ban on commercial whaling, 83 percent of the respondents told interviewers they favored the measure.

Of those interviewed, however, 47 percent told interviewers they didn't know anything about Japanese whaling.

In April, the International Whaling Commission submitted a proposal for Japan to decrease its Antarctic whaling quota from 800 whales to about 200 in 10 years.

Greenpeace activists in Japan were given light prison sentences last year for stealing a 50-pound box of whale meat they said was destined for the black market.

The telephone survey was conducted Dec. 10-13 for Greenpeace by market research company Caravan. Greenpeace said the sampling error was 3.1 percentage points.