Europe’s fishermen busted their annual catch allowances for the third year in a row in 2004, risking legal action and hefty fines for persistent violations of EU fisheries rules, the European Commission said on Thursday.

Greenpeace said on Thursday it believes Japanese hunters have killed at least 123 whales in the icy seas off the coast of Antarctica since the start of the whaling season this year.

A huge beached whale has been dumped outside the Japanese embassy in Berlin. in a Greenpeace anti-whaling protest. BBC

Researchers were surprised this week by the sudden appearance — and quick disappearance — of two rare Northern right whales in the busy industrial port of Corpus Christi Bay.

Ireland, Australia, Britain, Brazil, France and Germany were among 17 countries which this week called on Japan to halt to its Antarctic whaling programme.

Twenty-one dead dolphins have been washed up along the coast of Cornwall over the past four days. BBC

A Japanese whaling harpoon narrowly missed an inflatable boat carrying environmental protesters, causing one to fall into the freezing sea, as both sides warn their face-off is becoming increasingly dangerous.

Cans of lager are among the items which have been thrown at a dolphin delighting crowds of people in a Cumbrian town. BBC

New Zealand sailed into an escalating row between Japan’s whaling fleet and environmental activists on Thursday calling for international pressure on Tokyo to stop the practice.

Clashes at sea with two environmental groups will not bring Japan’s whaling programme to a halt but could reduce the size of the catch, a senior official at the Fisheries Ministry said on Thursday.