Sea Shepherd Cove Guardian Veteran Thomas Gainard has now been detained for more than 20 hours at the Kansai Airport in Japan. Japanese officials are refusing to give any further information as to why the French citizen is being held for such a lengthy period of time. Gainard’s travel companion, Cove Guardian Andy Romanowski was also detained, but released after three hours.

From his hotel room in Osaka, Romanowski has reached out to the international community seeking assistance to gain the release of Gainard:

“If you want to help, please call the Immigration department of the Kansai International Airport (they do speak english) and ask them why Thomas Gainard, who arrived on JQ19 on the 29/11, is being held for such an inappropriate period of time!? The Immigration department has even refused to give any info to the French embassy, who is also on the case. Kansai International Immigration contact number: +81 72 455 1461 thanks for your help!”

This is Gainard’s fourth trip to Japan and Romanowski’s third. The activists travel to the coastal town of Taiji to protest the annual slaughter of dolphins as seen in the Academy award-winning documentary, The Cove.