Anti-whaling activists handed over

[eppur_se_muova]

Source: CNN

(CNN) -- Two anti-whaling activists who were seized by a Japanese whaling vessel two days ago have been handed over to Australian government officials on a ship in the Antarctic, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Thursday.

Australian citizen Benjamin Potts and British citizen Giles Lane, both members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, jumped on board the Yushin Maru No. 2 Tuesday to deliver a letter saying the vessel was violating international law and Australian law by killing whales.

The anti-whaling group accused the crew of the Japanese vessel of kidnapping the men based on a video that showed Potts and Lane tied to the ship's railing. In the video, Japanese fishermen pace back and forth in front of them.

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith Wednesday did not answer questions about whether the men would be charged for their actions, stressing instead that the immediate priority was to retrieve them.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/01/17/activists.ship/index.html

---

ON EDIT: BBC version is now up.


Whaling pair 'leave Japan ship'

Two activists who boarded a Japanese whaling vessel have been handed to an Australian ship after a two-day Antarctic stand-off, officials say.

The Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), which runs the whaling trip, said the men were "transferred safely" to an Australian Customs vessel.

The pair, from the radical Sea Shepherd group, boarded the vessel on Tuesday.

The ICR then branded the activists as terrorists, while Sea Shepherd accused the ICR of illegal hunting.
***
more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7193212.stm

[Barrett808]

1. Detained activists released: Sea Shepherd

The Sea Shepherd organisation says two of their members are now aboard the Australian Customs ship the Oceanic Viking after being held for two days on a Japanese whaling ship.

Crew members on the Sea Shepherd's ship, the Steve Irwin, say they have received confirmation from Australian Customs officials that Benjamin Potts and Giles Lane were been picked up from the Yushin Maru II in the early hours of this morning.

They say they will meet the customs boat the Oceanic Viking at a rendezvous point in the Southern Ocean later this morning, when the men will be transferred back to the Steve Irwin.

Mr Potts and Mr Lane have been held by the Japanese crew since they boarded the ship on Tuesday to deliver a letter of protest against the Japanese fleet's whaling activities.

The executive director of Sea Shepherd, Kim McCoy, says the group will continue their protest against the Japanese whale hunt once the men are aboard.

"The moment we get them back on board we plan to resume what we came here to do, which is enforcing international conservation law," she said.

"Now more than ever it's imperative that we get right back on track immediately and go out and intervene against the illegal activities of the Japanese fleet."

(more)

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/18/2141147.htm?section=justin

[Richard D]

2. How the fuck . . .

could CNN say this:

Japan has been hunting whales in the Antarctic and apparently plans to kill as many as 1,000 this winter. The killings are allowed under international law because their main purpose is scientific.

is beyond my scope of comprehension.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. Maybe they forgot how to spell "purportedly" ? nt

[nebula]

4. Scientific my ass

one or two maybe, but killing a 1,000? That's commercial, NOT scienttific.

How the hell could killing a thousand samples of these
endangered animals ever be called scientific??


How much are the Japanese paying CNN to spin this report?

[Bonobo]

6. Same to you. It would require reading.

You should just go with the idea that the Japanese are "paying" CNN. It's more emotionally satisfying.

[LanternWaste]

7. Yet it does beg the question--

Yet it does beg the question-- what scientific advantage is gained by killing over 900 whales? The best I've seen from the story is this...

"The Japanese fleet plans to kill about 900 minke whales and 50 fin whales by mid-April as part of what it describes as a scientific research programme.

But other nations and environment groups say the research goals could be achieved using non-lethal methods and call the programme a front for commercial whaling."

[Bonobo]

10. It is not scientific. It is for food, for profit

and due to "political issues".

[LanternWaste]

12. The why are the Japanese maintaining

Then why are the Japanese maintaining that it's for scientific research? :shrug:

So far, they do appear to be the most duplicitous of our cast of characters...

[Bonobo]

14. Because the IWF would not negotiate in good faith, so they were essentially

forced to be duplicitous.

[Bonobo]

5. You don't really want the answer. It's complex and you would have to

deal with the fact that the Japanese are not the boogey men they are being made out to be.

Forget about it. It's easier to just believe they are eeeevuhl. You'll be happier without the burden of having to get bogged down in details.

[nebula]

8. Please explain, exactly what these vague 'scientific purposes' are?

CNN (and the Japanese gov't) have failed to even attempt to explain them,
so perhaps you could clue us in.

[Bonobo]

9. You are right. It is NOT scientific. eom

[nebula]

27. Then call it what it is---illegal poaching

and CNN is full of shit, per usual.

[LeftyMom]

11. They're researching the price of whale meat at Japanese markets. nt

[LanternWaste]

13. it would appear to me that the Japanese government

So despite the vociferous defense from a poster or two in these 'whaling' threads, it would appear to me that the Japanese government is partly in the business of covering up whale slaughter by private corporations for the sake of nothing but profit.

Sounds damned well indefensible to me.... but to each their own, I guess.



:hi:

[Richard D]

16. And

The effects of whale meat on dogs and cats. Much of the whale meat japan "harvests" is used for pet food.

[LeftyMom]

17. It's also used in school lunches. They must be researching the effects ofmercury on children.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

15. It was really scientific the way they offered the protesters whale meat to eat

wasn't it? :grr: CNN = Crap Neocon News

[flvegan]

18. Anti-whaling activists return to 'Steve Irwin'

Source: ABC News

Two anti-whaling activists held captive after boarding a Japanese whaling boat are on the way back to their own ship after being released.

Australian Benjamin Potts and Giles Lane from Britain are said to be in good health and good spirits.

The two men were transferred to an Australian customs ship early this morning.

They had been held on the Yushin Maru II since Tuesday.

Kim McCoy, the executive director of Sea Shepherd, is on board the Steve Irwin and says they will pick them up shortly.

"The moment we get them back on board we plan to resume what we came here to do, which is enforcing international conservation law," he said.

Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/18/2141185.htm?section=justin

[Bicoastal]

19. I didn't know that bloke had a boat named after him!

Kewl.

[flvegan]

20. Up until this campaign, it was The Robert Hunter

Steve Irwin was supposed to be going along with them on this campaign. He's there in spirit.

[izquierdista]

21. It's too bad he couldn't

That would have been great footage, Steve encountering a Japanese whaler in his foraging grounds and capturing him. Wrestle him down until they could get some ropes on him and put him in a cage for transport back to his native land. Although I'm not sure they should re-release them into breeding stock, it seems like there are too many of them already. But Steve would never cull an animal, not even a Japanese whaler, he would probably put him in a pen and toss him some raw chicken quarters to amuse the crowd.

Crikey what a crafty devil! Don't let him point his harpoon at you or you're a goner!

[Critters2]

31. OT, but....cool username! nt

[tabasco]

22. That increases my already high opinion of Irwin.

Thanks for the info.

[cal04]

23. Australia picks up seized activists

An Australian vessel on Friday picked up two activists who had jumped on board a Japanese whaling ship earlier this week, prompting a tense standoff on the high seas.

Their return paves the way for the Japanese crews to resume killing whales, and for their staunchest opponents to restart their campaign of harassment to stop them.

The activists from an anti-whaling group, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, had been detained on the Japanese harpoon boat Yushin Maru 2.

The dispute underscores the high-stakes nature of the contest fought each year in the remote and dangerous seas at the far south of the world, thousands of miles from the possibility of regular emergency or rescue services.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080117/ap_on_re_au_an/antarctica_whaling

[judaspriestess]

24. keep up the fight Sea Shepard

n/t

[LeftyMom]

25. Pick them up and then back to the exciting business of chasing whalers around.

The cool thing is, while the Japanese were giving them their free tour of the Southern Ocean, they weren't killing whales.

[flvegan]

34. I smell a BIG confrontation.

They are all heading into a very finite area as we type.

Mark my words, I sense some very big boats hitting each other in the near future.

But then, I'm a HUGE fan of the can opener.

[LeftyMom]

35. That's because you're smart AND good looking.

:)

[Barrett808]

26. Whaling activist 'did Mum proud'

Whaling activist 'did Mum proud'
Georgina Robinson | January 18, 2008 - 9:49AM

The Brisbane mother of an environmental activist who was detained by a Japanese whaling vessel in the Southern Ocean this week said she was proud of her "passionate son".

Marianne Potts said her 28-year-old son Benjamin was handed over to Australian Customs vessel the Oceanic Viking early this morning and was back on board the anti-whaling ship the Steve Irwin.

Mr Potts and fellow activist Giles Lane, 35, were detained on Tuesday after boarding the Japanese whaler Yushin Maru No 2 to deliver a protest letter.

Mr Potts today said he thought he was going to be thrown overboard by the whaler's crew.

"Yeah they picked me up, two guys picked me up by the shoulders and the gunner, the guy that shoots the whales, picked my legs up and they attempted to tip me over," he told Fairfax Radio Network from the Steve Irwin.

"And I held on to one of the rails and they knocked my hands off that and then I put my foot up against one of the other rails and kicked off and they weren't able to throw me over."

Mrs Potts said she and husband Michael were "very relieved" to know the transfer was successful and their son was safe.

"We have not slept since Monday, we were very concerned for him," she said from her home on Brisbane's bay side.

"We've not had any contact with him at all, although I did ask somebody on board to give him a big hug and a kiss from me, even if he didn't want it, even if it was the captain himself."

Mrs Potts said she was "tremendously proud" of her son's actions.

"We're very proud of his passion and his convictions and I'd just like to say thank-you to the Sea Shepherd group for their support," she said.

"We agree with the Captain's decision not to compromise because it's not just about Ben, it's about a much wider issue."

(more)

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/national/whaling-activist-did-mum-proud/2008/01/18/1200590666782.html

[143tbone]

28. So what's the Greenpeace ship been up to the last couple of days? nt

[Zachstar]

29. Obeying the law

And not encouraging the people of Japan to support the whaling fleet.

Look forward to more whale hunts people! The whalers got the world by the balls now.

They are no longer hunters but victims of piracy. Yall have lost the moral advantage by supporting Sea Shepherd.

So the whale hunts will continue.

[Bonobo]

30. And likely they will be protected by the Japanese navy (or the US!) eom

[flvegan]

32. Dumb. n/t

[Nevernose]

36. Because the status quo was working out so well for the whales, right?

Because the status quo was working out so well for the whales, right?

And the incident in question regards delivering a letter. Granted, just like the next guy I really don't like taking that crap hanging off my door, but that doesn't give me the right to kidnap the UPS guy, either.

[143tbone]

38. Could it be that there is a "good cop, bad cop" situation

going on here? If there isn't it should be. If Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace could only find a way to work together, even if it's in a wily way, they could be very effective. But maybe that's exactly what's going on.

[flvegan]

33. Greenpeace is doing a great job keeping the Nisshin Maru on the run.

As long as this processing boat is in flight, whale killing can't occur. If the whale strike boats can't offload, they can't take on more dead whales.

The Esperanza (Greenpeace's boat) is doing fantastic work. Big kudos.

[flvegan]

37. Rudd confronts Japan with vow to end commercial whaling

By Virginia Marsh in Sydney and David Pilling in Tokyo

Published: January 18 2008 02:00 | Last updated: January 18 2008 02:00

Kevin Rudd, Australia's new Labor prime minister, yesterday said his government would pursue all means to end commercial whaling by Japan and other countries, dismissing claims that Japanese hunting was for scientific purposes.

Mr Rudd's comments, which mark a significant shift in Australian foreign policy, came as a tense stand-off that has soured relations between Japan and Australia eased after Canberra said it was poised to secure the release of two anti-whaling protesters held by the Japanese fleet in Antarctica's Southern Ocean.

The previous conservativegovernment of John Howard, defeated by Labor in last November's election, had avoided antagonising Japan, one of Australia's closest allies and most important trading partners, over the issue.

"The key challenge is how do we bring about the end of commercial whaling, period," said Mr Rudd, a former diplomat. "I have foreshadowed, for some time now, the absolute importance of accumulating an evidence base which underpins a possible legal action that has that as its single objective."

He added: "This is not scientific whaling - this is commercial whaling."

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0b430054-c569-11dc-811a-0000779fd2ac.html

[wintersoulja]

39. pinko commie whale lovers

I came here to see if anyone could dis the activists.
Not surprised, but I am disappointed.
I believe they might be doing research to see how many
whales survive our ELF abuse.
Its definitely not just the japanese who are murdering
our more elegant relatives.

[Barrett808]

40. Sea Shepherd: Lack of Cooperation May Kill the Whales

Sea Shepherd: Lack of Cooperation May Kill the Whales
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x130252