whaling nations have become increasingly frustrated by what they see as a growing anti-whaling slant to the IWC's annual meetings, especially after the 2004 meeting ended with a small but significant victory for countries that want to maintain the whaling ban. Japan blames whales for declining fish catches, saying the mammoth mammals consume such vast quantities of fish that they have contributed to a huge drop in fish landings. Howard's letter comes as the first migrating whales of the southern hemisphere winter were sighted in warm waters off the major Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne. More than 2,000 humpback and southern right whales migrate north along Australia's eastern coastline each winter to breeding grounds in warmer waters, before heading south to colder feeding grounds again from September to November. Howard said the whale migration attracted 1.6 million tourists a year to Australia's coast to enjoy whale-watching. Australian national parks officials said up to four whales an hour passed some popular whale-watching sites. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told Australian Parliament on Tuesday that Australia would continue to work with anti-whaling nations ahead of the IWC meeting. "While stock numbers remain under threat, it's clear Japan's whaling programme cannot be described as science," Downer said. However, he said Australia would not use its aid programme to small Pacific Island nations to pressure small nations like the Solomon Islands to oppose Japan in the IWC.
