Sea Shepherd Finds and Engages the Japanese Whaling Fleet

[Barrett808]

Source: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

We have them!

The crew of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's ship, the Steve Irwin, have found the Japanese whaling fleet, less than a week after leaving Hobart, Tasmania. The Yusshin Maru #2 was caught unaware today in dense fog and in heavy ice. The Sea Shepherd crew immediately launched a strike on the vessel with rotten butter bombs.

The Japanese whalers have been caught hunting whales inside the Australian Antarctic territorial waters in blatant contempt of a January 2008 Australian Federal Court Order prohibiting them from whaling in the Australian Economic Exclusion Zone.

Sea Shepherd intends to enforce this Order and other international conservation laws protecting endangered whale species in an established whale sanctuary in violation of the international moratorium on commercial whaling. We do so in accordance with the principles established by the United Nations World Charter for Nature.

Sea Shepherd appeals to the government of Australia to grant us permission to shut down the illegal operations of the Japanese whaling fleet in Australian territorial waters. The Australian citizens onboard the Steve Irwin intend to enforce Australian law against the illegal activities of the Japanese invasion force in these waters.

Read more: http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-081219-1.html

[Hayduke Lives]

1. Give 'em hell, Paul. nt

[Lionel Mandrake]

2. Where is the Australian Navy when you need them? nt

[Submariner]

8. On a 62 day Xmas leave.....in other words....shut down for the holidays

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/19/australian-navy-christmas-leave-defence

[Lionel Mandrake]

10. That's inFUCKINGcredible!

Attention all pirates, Japanese whalers, and other seafaring evildoers:

Australia is wide open. Take whatever you want. Nobody will stop you.

[LynneSin]

3. I love that show - great job

:woohoo:

[InvisibleTouch]

4. A kick for Sea Shepherd!

They are rapidly becoming my favorite conservation group, because they actually take action where it counts the most.

[Babette]

5. Isn't Daryl Hannah on board this season?

[Barrett808]

6. She is indeed, and Animal Planet is filming Whale Wars, Season 2. n/t

[Leftest]

7. I am actually watching that show right now and that Capitan was shot in the chest

by someone from the Japanese whaling ship. The only thing that saved his life is he was wearing a bullet proof vest. I saw them dig out the bullet out of the vest. What came out was indeed a bullet.

[Codeine]

25. Wasn't a bullet.

I love Sea Shepherd, but that clearly was not a bullet. A bullet would have left a huge bruise even through Kevlar, and would have left him in some pain; much more than the silly "Holy Fuck" reaction Watson has on the show.

Guerrilla theater is fine, but don't be silly enough to believe it.

[Downtown Hound]

32. It also shattered his badge beneath the vest

I don't know. I'll admit I'm no firearms expert but I seem to recall he did have a welt on his skin where he supposedly got shot. This still came through even from underneath a bullet proof vest and a metal badge. What do you think it was if not a bullet?

[Matilda]

9. Doing the job the Australian Government should be doing.

I thought getting rid of John Howard meant never having to feel
embarrassed for my country any more, but seems I was wrong.

[Barrett808]

11. Update: Japanese Whaling Fleet Is On the Run

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Steve Irwin now has the entire Japanese whaling fleet on the run.

At 2345 G.M.T. the Steve Irwin intercepted the Japanese harpoon vessel Yushin Maru #2 inside the Australian Antarctic Economic Exclusion Zone at 64°26 South and 132° 40' East.

The encounter took place in dense fog and in dangerous ice conditions. The Steve Irwin launched a Delta boat with a crew to attack the Yushin Maru #2 with rotten butter bombs. Unfortunately the wind increased to fifty knots with blizzard conditions. Captain Paul Watson called the small boat crew back for safety reasons when they were halfway to their target some three miles away.

The Yushin Maru #2 then headed due North to lead the Steve Irwin away from the whaling fleet. The decoy did not work. The Steve Irwin is now in pursuit of the whaling fleet.

They have ceased whaling operations and they are now running from the Sea Shepherd crew.

The Yushin Maru #2 was the same vessel that the Steve Irwin crew boarded in January 2007. This year the crew observed that the Yushin Maru #2 has set up large netting to be run along the side of the ship to prevent boarding parties from going over the side. When the whalers realized that the Steve Irwin was onto them, they immediately ran on deck to deploy the netting.

"It looks like Whale Wars, season #2 is officially underway," said Captain Paul Watson. "We've got them on the run. They are not in the Ross Sea where they said they would be. They are in Australian waters. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is officially calling on Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith to order the Japanese fleet to comply with the orders of the Australian Federal Court and to cease and desist from killing to whales in Australian waters."

(more)

http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-081219-2.html

[roody]

12. Donate! They have been on my "to donate to" list.

Writing a check. http://www.seashepherd.org/support-us/mail-phone.html It's tax deductible.

[grantdevine]

23. What else do they do besides chase whalers?

I can't see myself sending money to a group that just burns up fuel oil trying to stop Japanese whalers. A bigger threat to the whales than the Japanese is global warming.

[roody]

30. Check it out.

http://www.seashepherd.org/

[LeftyMom]

13. Good man. Keep 'em running.

:patriot:

[Dogmudgeon]

14. What, exactly, do the Japanese want out of the whales' hides?

I was not under the impression that whale oil had much of a market, and ambergris can be gotten without killing the whale.

--p!

[baldguy]

16. They eat them

[Doremus]

19. From what I understand, they warehouse much of the harvest because no one wants it.

I remember reading that the Japanese government was foisting it off in school lunches trying to unload it.

According to one poster last year, the Japanese continue the whale hunt because they haven't been asked politely enough to stop it. Sounds rather far-fetched to me but it makes as much sense as a country spending the money to hunt down and kill 1000 whales that nobody wants. :shrug:

Do the Japanese have the same fetish for exotic genitalia that China does? If so, perhaps that's the answer.

[Barrett808]

20. It's just a subsidy to the fishing industry

With no economic value at all.

[bread_and_roses]

15. When Greenpeace first took to the sea, they were excoriated

with contempt, derision, and pontifications about "the rule of law" and the sancticty of property and blah blah blah - much the same tone as is directed toward PETA today. Interesting, the change in perception.

[The Stranger]

17. KEEP THOSE CRIMINAL WHALERS ON THE RUN!

PEACE, JUSTICE AND THE AMERICAN WAY!

[ellie]

18. Godspeed Sea Shepherd!

Safe journeys!

There is a whaling apologist on DU, I am surprised he hasn't posted on this thread. It is still early I guess.

[flvegan]

21. And so long as Sea Shepherd is there, no whales will die.

[grantdevine]

22. You hope, but the reality is probably something different. n/t

[flvegan]

24. First they find the harpoon ship(s)

then the factory ship, then Nishin Maru. Once they get on the tail of the factory boat, the killing stops altogether.

[grantdevine]

26. How are you able to say that with complete confidence? nt

[flvegan]

27. If the factory ship is running

the harpoon ships can't kill whales because they can't offload them onto the factory ship. The harpoon ships would just be dragging a whale off her side until the factory ship could meet up with the harpoon ship to take the kill.

[Barrett808]

28. Update: Whale Wars Finale Ends as Whale Wars Two Begins

On the day that the final episode of Whale Wars airs in the United States, the crew of the Steve Irwin once again intercepted the Japanese whaling fleet off the coast of Antarctica.

"It does not get more real then this," said Captain Paul Watson. "While people are sitting in their living rooms watching our campaign against the whalers that took place last season we are at the same time in the icy hostile seas of Antarctica engaged with the whalers this season. There is an Animal Planet crew onboard and the cameras are rolling for season two of Whale Wars."

This is the quickest and earliest that the Japanese fleet has been found and Sea Shepherd is hopeful this will translate into major profit losses for the illegal Japanese whaling fleet and that more whales will be spared an agonizing death from the harpoons than last season when Sea Shepherd intervention cut the Japanese kill quota in half.

"We've got them on the run," said Sea Shepherd 2nd Officer Peter Hammarstedt of Sweden. "The chase is on and we will dog them, harass them, continually intercept them and we will silence the harpoons."

The crew are in high spirits.

"This is going to be a wonderful gift for the whales this Christmas," said Shannon Mann from Canada.

"I'm feeling really good about being here," said Amber Paarman of South Africa.

"There is no place else I would rather be than down here in these waters chasing these killers," said Jeff Hansen from Western Australia.

Both the whaling fleet and the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin are moving slowly through thick ice in the midst of a strong blizzard with 50 knot winds.

###

http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-081220-1.html

[Jack_DeLeon]

29. Keep up the good work...

[Downtown Hound]

31. Here's a kick for the crew of the Steve Irwin

Go get 'em.

[Judi Lynn]

33. Sea Shepherd is a shining star in a world with too many people eager to harm less powerful creatures

and almost no one interested in trying to bring shelter, protection to the helpless.

Assholes can scoff, can attempt to feel superior to them, from the safety of their mothers' basements, can attempt to portray them as "do gooders," or "tree huggers," but that doesn't matter. It only causes you to disregard them, and try to remember their names so you don't waste your time trying to see what they think again.

One day good people WILL triumph, for the first time in human history. It's going to happen. One day Paul Watson is going to be WELL known as the hero he is, along with his collegues.

Thank you, Barrett808. Perfect picture choice!