Anti-whaling activists from Greenpeace chained themselves to the mooring ropes of a cargo ship in the Netherlands in an effort to prevent a ship from leaving to Japan. Greenpeace claimed the ship was illegally transporting seven containers storing meat from ten endangered fin whales. Trade in these and other whales species is banned under the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species. This treaty was signed by 175 countries, with the exception of Japan and Iceland, which refuse to comply with its legislation and continue to trade in whale meat.