Expedition preparations and launch in Cape Town, from 16 to 20 November. Greenpeace launches its expedition to the Southern Ocean to stop Japan's annual 'scientific' whale hunt. This year the Fisheries Agency of Japan has more than doubled its planned catch of minke whales to 935 and added 10 endangered fin whales which are the second largest creatures on earth after blue whales. Greenpeace ships MY Esperanza (MYE) and MY Arctic Sunrise (MYAS) carry seventy crew and campaigners from 19 countries to defend the whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary as part of Greenpeace's campaign 'Defending our Oceans'.