Gorton's came under attack from three environmentalist and animal-rights groups — the Environmental Investigation Agency, The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Greenpeace — due to its parent company's involvement in whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. These groups hoped that international companies owned by Nippon Suisan Kaisha would persuade their parent company to stop supporting whaling if they were put under enough pressure. Eventually, Nippon Suisan Kaisha agreed to divest its ownership in the company that owned the whaling fleet. Greenpeace hailed this as a victory, and the boycott of Gorton's ended.