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Lisa Napoli:

Sam Eaton: Japan plans to hunt 50 humpback whales in Antarctica. It’s an area Australia has designated a whale sanctuary, which Japan refuses to recognize.

But instead of taking legal action, the Australian government is trying a new tack: Get Japanese children to oppose the hunt with a message on YouTube.

Anti-Whaling YouTube Video: Hi, I’m Malcom Turnbull. I’m the Australian minister for the environment. Can you imagine what life would be like without these magnificent creatures?

The video also features Australian children who’ve created anti-whaling campaigns of their own.

Greenpeace’s Marie Jorgensen says sites like YouTube offer a direct link to untapped audiences.

Marie Jorgensen: These are folks who are already comfortable with the tools that we’re going to give them and are willing and able to run their own campaigns and kind of give a lot more muscle to something that we would have traditionally done ourselves.

Jorgensen says Greenpeace also uses YouTube in its anti-whaling campaign. The environmental group plans to launch an animated video that targets Japanese youth.

In Los Angeles, I’m Sam Eaton for Marketplace.