As Japan sets out on whale hunt, eco-warriors vow to 'hunt the whalers'

A defiant Japan yesterdayembarked on its largest whaling expedition in decades, targeting protected humpbacks for the first time since the 1960s despite international opposition. Japan argues that whale populations have recovered enough to allow a managed catch , but militant environmentalists have vowed in turn to "hunt the whalers" to save the still-vulnerable humpbacks.