appointed Sir Sydney Frost, a former chief justice of Papua New Guinea, to conduct an inquiry into whales and whaling. This followed a direct pro-whale action campaign in Albany, Western Australia, and a national community campaign by groups including Project Jonah, Friends of the Earth and the Whale and Dolphin Coalition. Greenpeace co-founder Canadian Bob Hunter came to Albany in August 1977 to take charge of a direct action campaign against the three whale chaser ships operating from Albany. Zodiacs were taken 30 miles out to sea to place people between harpoons and the whales. This was the first Greenpeace campaign in Australia. Key members of the Whale and Dolphin Coalition, including Jonny Lewis and Richard Jones, then formed Greenpeace Australia. On 31 July 1978, the first day of the Frost inquiry public hearings, the Cheynes Beach Whaling Company announced its intention to close operations at the end of that whaling season. Cheynes Beach had operated from Frenchman Bay near Albany, Western Australia, since 1952. The last whale, a sperm whale, was harpooned on 20 November 1978. Sir Sydney's report, Whales and Whaling: Report of the Independent Inquiry, recommended banning whaling in Australia, and in April 1979 the Fraser government endorsed it. Australia is now a global anti-whaling advocate and has taken a strong stance against Japan's whaling program in the Antarctic Ocean. The State Library of New South Wales holds an extensive collection of material related to whaling in its collection including art works, photographs, whalers diaries, whale bone and scrimshaw. The return of southern right whales to the Derwent River and other parts of Australia in recent decades is a sign that they are slowly recovering from their earlier exploitation to near extinction. Anecdotal evidence suggests that whale populations, especially humpbacks, have been steadily increasing since the end of whaling in Australian waters. The current state of the sperm whale population off Western Australia is unknown. Whale watching is an increasingly popular activity. Long serving or notable Australian whaling vessels Aladdin (1847-1885) Australian 264 tons (1829-1856) Caernarvon (1834-1867) Emily Downing (1857-1885) Flying Childers (1846-1877) Highlander (1837-1862) King George 185 tons (1805-1815) The first Australian whaler. Also the first to be built in Australia. Lucy Ann, 213 tons (1833-1852) Herman Melville served aboard in 1842. Marie Laure (1849-1886) Offley (1849-1880) Probably Hobart’s longest lived whaler. Built in 1849 and still in existence in 1952. Prince of Denmark (1834-1863) Proteus,