Japanese Whaling Fleet Forced to Run from Sea Shepherd

[Barrett808]

ABOARD THE FARLEY MOWAT, 0630 Hours, February 9th, 2007 (0930 Hours, February 8th, PST)


The Sea Shepherd ship Robert Hunter has closed in on the Japanese whaling fleet. The Sea Shepherd helicopter Kookaburra has flown over the Japanese whaling ship the Nisshin Maru and the three harpoon vessels accompanying it. The identification of the Japanese fleet is 100% positive. The Sea Shepherd ships have covered thousands of square miles and have been searching for the whaling fleet for over 6 weeks.

The Nisshin Maru is the factory ship of the fleet. The kill ships bring the dead whales back to this factory vessel and transfer them to the 130m long processing ship where the whales are butchered and stored. The Japanese whaling fleet plans to illegally slaughter over 900 whales in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary this year – including 935 piked (Minke) whales and 10 fin whales.



In hot pursuit: Captain Alex Cornelissen and First Mate Peter Hammarstedt
on the bridge of the Robert Hunter


This Japanese whaling operation is in violation of many international laws and regulations, including:

They are violating the Southern Ocean Sanctuary

They are violating the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling.

They are targeting endangered fin and humpback whales that are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. (CITES).

The Sea Shepherd flagship Farley Mowat is also closing in on the fleet and moving towards their position. The Robert Hunter, can easily outrun the Nisshin Maru. The Nisshin Maru was forced to stop its whaling activity and is now attempting to flee the area and both Sea Shepherd ships are now in full pursuit and closing in on the illegal whaling vessels of the Japanese whale killing fleet. Photos are now available.

The Japanese whaling fleet position is 66 Degrees 46 Minutes South and 169 Degrees 52 Minutes East. 122 East northeast of Sturge Island.

The objectives of the Sea Shepherd vessels are to enforce international conservation law against illegal Japanese whaling operations in accordance with the principles established by the United Nations World Charter for Nature.

The Farley Mowat has a crew of 20 under the command of Captain Paul Watson. The Robert Hunter has a crew of 37 under the command of Captain Alex Cornelissen of the Netherlands.

(more)

http://seashepherd.org/news/media_070208_1.html

[Hand]

1. Hoist the Jolly Roger! Stand by to ram!

:applause:

[Vidar]

2. Applauding the FARLEY MOWAT & its crew.

[ellie]

3. Rock on Sea Shepherd!

Thanks for the link, too.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Best of all possible wishes to theSea Shepherd & courageous crew.

Thank you, Barrett808.

[xchrom]

5. that's what it takes to stop this barbarity.

:applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

6. Go, guys, go!

Bravo! :applause:

Thank you for your courageous work on behalf of the planet's sea animals! :loveya:

[ThomCat]

7. Awesome!

:applause:

:woohoo:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

8. And, this time, the LAW is on the good guys' side!

Or perhaps the whalers will avoid any prosecution because they just turned back and went away without killing any whale?

[slackmaster]

9. If they managed to stop whales from being taken without endangering humans

I'm all for it.

:toast:

[youngdem]

12. no worries....there are no humans on a whaling ship, only monsters

[Coventina]

24. BINGO! n/t

[Barrett808]

10. Update: "Whalers' Activities Disrupted by Sea Shepherd"

Whalers' Activities Disrupted by Sea Shepherd
February 8th, 2007 - 1230 Hours (Pacific Coast Standard time)
February 9th, 2007 - 0830 Hours (Auckland N.Z. time)

The Sea Shepherd ships Farley Mowat and the Robert Hunter have been engaged in a confrontation with the Japanese whaling factory ship Nisshin Maru since 0530 Hours this morning.

When the Robert Hunter first approached the Nisshin Maru there were three hunter killer vessels with the mother ship. These vessels quickly fled northward. The Nisshin Maru fled east straight towards the Farley Mowat. At two miles from the Farley Mowat, the Nisshin Maru turned and fled back west again.

There was a pod of whales in the area near the whalers. The Sea Shepherd crew is happy to report that these whales fled and are now safe from the Japanese harpoons.

The Sea Shepherd crew has successfully delivered six liters of butyric acid onto the flensing deck of the Nisshin Maru. This "butter acid" is a nontoxic obnoxious smelling substance. The foul smell has cleared the flensing deck and stopped all work of cutting up whales.

Sea Shepherd crew in Zodiacs have nailed plates to the drain outlets (near the waterline) on the Nisshin Maru that spill the blood of the whales from the flensing deck into the sea. This is backing up the blood onto the flensing decks. The plates are secured by Hilt nail guns that drive steel nails through solid steel.

(more)

http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_070208_2.html

[Richard Steele]

13. Strong work, Sea Shepardiers!

:applause:

[Sirveri]

11. Don't worry, a USN submarine will probably run into them.

They seem to like running into everything else lately.

[northofdenali]

14. YEE HAAAA!!!!

I LOVE IT

[Exultant Democracy]

15. What will we do when whales start to follow

the elephants example... no more pleasure cruises.

[slackmaster]

16. Elephant Walk is one of my favorite movies EVER!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

17. Bad-assed activism! I like it!

[okasha]

18. Well done, Sea Shepherd!

:applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo:

[anotherdrew]

19. cheers to the Robert Hunter and the Farley Mowat

Captains Cornelissen and Watson and crews are real life heros

[judaspriestess]

20. Thank you!!

thank you!!

[BeFree]

21. The whales have a friend

May the great spirit keep a close watch on them all.

[Bonobo]

22. Great!

But let's not forget who drove the whales to near extinction in the first place. Hint: It was mostly us.

:patriot:

:patriot:

[flvegan]

23. Good morning kick for SSCS!

[The Stranger]

25. Fight on, my brothers and my sisters.

I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees.

I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.

[lumpy]

26. Ho ho ho I love it !

The Shepherds dropped a horribly foul substance on the decks and sealed up the scuppers so the whale blood would not drain off the deck. Brilliant !

[Hawkowl]

27. Heroes

The Sea Sheperds are true heroes!

[saigon68]

28. Good work

[Barrett808]

29. Sea Shepherd has posted some compelling videos:

http://www.whalesafebeer.com/podcasts.htm

[rocktivity]

30. You know what's really great? They are in COMPLETE charge of the media on this!

shooting their own video, publishing their own newsletters, keeping their own diaries! the Rethugs should be honored by their use of "message discipline," LOL!

:headbang:
rocknation

[LostinVA]

31. Go, Sea Shepherd!