No bones about it

programme was condemned. The country was further frustrated by a rejection for limited whaling around its own coastline, while Norway was allowed to hunt 1,000 whales. While governments wring their hands in frustration and annoyance, environmental activists are heading for the Southern Ocean and direct confrontation. Greenpeace, the longest-acting anti-whaling environmental group, said that its protest ship, Esperanza, was moored just outside Japan's territorial waters ahead of the hunt, and would chase the ships southwards. The Esperanza's leader, Karli Thomas, said: " We are going to do everything in our power to reduce their catch. Japans research program is a sham. " The American Cetacean Society estimates the humpback whale population to have recovered to around 30,000 to 40,000 individuals — still only a third of their numbers before modern whaling. The species is listed as 'vulnerable' by the World Conservation Union. But Japan's fisheries agency, a small government department which controls the country's whaling policy, sees itself as the defender against Western 'cultural imperialism' and its right to marine resources. The agency says Japan's low food self-sufficiency — less than 40 per cent — gives it the right to hunt all sustainable sea life, including whales. But the rest of the world does not believe whale stocks have recovered enough to allow commercial whaling. Only an estimated 2,000 blue whales exist from a population of around 360,000 before commercial whaling. Environmentalists are hoping that Japan's new pursuit of the tourists' favourite whale will backfire. Paul Watson, of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which will have a boat harrassing the Japanese whalers alongside that of Greenpeace, has just one message for the hunt: " Bring it on. The humpback hunt will be the biggest recruiting tool we have ever had. " Evolution in Action: Natural History through Spectacular Skeletons Jean-Baptiste de Panafieu. Molecular genetics has shifted the focus in the biology of animal structures towards the genes by which they are built, with some spectacular insights. But a remarkable new book goes back to the hardware with an impressive collection of black and white photographs of almost 200 vertebrate skeletons of currently existing animals, showing both the remarkable similarity and diversity in vertebrate evolution. Museum of Natural History in Paris, has collaborated with the photographer Patrick Gries and colleagues at several major French zoology collections to produce a stunning, dynamic snapshot of current vertebrate diversity as a result of the power …