Three local animal-rights activists are on a mission to protect whales near Antarctica.

Syracuse residents Joel Capolongo and Justin Pellingra, along with Jeff Watkins, of Fayetteville, are participating in a campaign with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Capolongo, 28, and Watkins, 29, boarded a plane Thursday for Melbourne, Australia. Pellingra, 23, will leave next week.

On Dec.1, the three are scheduled to leave Melbourne on the society's ship Farley Mowat heading to the coast of Antarctica. Capolongo said they will hunt for what the society has deemed a Japanese whaling fleet and do anything to stop its whaling operations.

About 40 people from around the world, including journalists, will take part in the journey, according to Watkins. The mission could last more than a month, he said.

"The Japanese fleet has instructions to blow us out of the water," Watkins said. "We're interfering with their income."

The society accuses the Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research of performing illegal whale killings. The Japanese are violating the International Whaling Commission's ban on commercial whaling and targeting endangered fin and humpback whales, the society's Web site says.

The Japanese Institute Web site tells a different story. It says the institute's research program is legal. The institute has permission to kill whales for research purposes under article VIII of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling. The convention also requires that the by-products of the research are not wasted.

"That is why whale meat is processed and sold," the Japanese Institute's Web site says. "It is not a loophole or illegal or commercial whaling in disguise as the anti-whaling rhetoric suggests."

Pellingra disagrees. He said the Japanese are using their research as an excuse.

As early as junior high, all three young men switched from eating meat to vegan lifestyle. They are members of the Syracuse Animal Rights Organization. Both Capolongo and Watkins have been arrested before while participating in animal-rights protests.

Watkins raises his 6-year-old son, Noah, as a vegan. He took Noah to the film "March of the Penguins," which takes place in Antarctica. Watkins said he explained how bad people do bad things and good people do good things like protecting the whales.

"My son is really in tune with compassion for animals," Watkins said. "Doing something like this requires a lot of soul searching, but what's at stake with our ecosystem is really important. I want to make the world a better place."

The three have to pay their own airfare. The society will provide free meals and a vegan chef on board to prepare them. The society provides no insurance for anyone who might be injured while interfering with the Japanese fleet, Capolongo said.

All three men said they are a little nervous, but look forward to helping and having an adventure.

"This isn't a kamikaze mission at all," Capolongo said. "This comes out of a deep love and respect for the environment and animals on this Earth. We want to protect those things."