Daryl Hannah makes splash with whale campaign

Wednesday 03rd December, 05:50 AM JST

SYDNEY —

Actress Daryl Hannah will sail for the inhospitable South Ocean on Wednesday as part of a campaign to stop Japanese whalers from slaughtering the giant animals, organizers said.

Hannah, best known for her role as a mermaid in the 1984 hit “Splash,” will be part of the militant Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s annual campaign to find, track and impede the whaling ships.

The film star on Wednesday will join the “Steve Irwin,” which departs from the eastern Australian city of Brisbane, for the first week of the voyage.

“Passionate about the issues facing our planet, Hannah will join the crew,” Sea Shepherd said in a statement.

The star of films such as “Blade Runner” and “Kill Bill” said more needed to be done to stop the Japanese from killing endangered species in the waters off Antarctica.

“It is surprising and shocking to me that governments are not doing this work—that it is up to individuals and non-government organizations to uphold international law and protect endangered species,” she told AAP news agency.

The “Steve Irwin,” named for the late Australian “Crocodile Hunter” who died in 2006 from a stingray barb, is the only vessel to attempt to follow the Japanese whalers on their annual whale hunt this year.

Greenpeace, which has sent ships to the Southern Ocean nine times in the past two decades to track the hunt, will not send a vessel this year, instead concentrating on its campaign within Japan to stop the slaughter.

The Australian government, which last year sent a Customs ship to collect data on the killings that Japan says is for scientific purposes, will not send a boat either.

Monitoring will be left to New Zealand, which will send air force planes to oversee the whaling fleet in Antarctic waters.

Japan—which aims to kill 1,000 whales a year using a loophole in a 1986 global moratorium that allows “lethal research” on the ocean giants—only managed to make about half its quota last season because of interference from the activists.

Wire reports

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 27 Total Comments Show All

ihope2eatwhales at 01:28 PM JST - 3rd December

There are many many whales in Antarctic ocean. Japan's research has helped prove it.
soldave at 01:32 PM JST - 3rd December

Couldn't Australia donate the 50 or so whales that died after being beached on its shores to the Japanese cause? It might stop them killing so many living whales if they already have some dead ones for whaleburgers. Oops, I meant scientific research.
Heda_Madness at 01:33 PM JST - 3rd December

Naruki, you may want to check the data for estimated levels of Minke Whales.
cleo at 01:49 PM JST - 3rd December

Why are people bashing natural blondes?

Having lots of one kind of animal doesn't mean it's OK to torture them.

Researching the 50 dead whales would be better science than slaughtering the same number.
Heda_Madness at 01:58 PM JST - 3rd December

Cleo, I will never argue that whaling is humane. However I will argue that regulated whaling of certain species is acceptable because of their numbers. Clearly the Minke Whale is one of those that falls into that category.
cleo at 02:04 PM JST - 3rd December

I will never argue that whaling is humane.

Then how can you possibly be in favour of it?

Leaving aside the over 6 billion humans on the planet, there are probably not many fewer dogs. Dogs are obviously not going to go extinct any time soon. Does that make it OK to kill as many as you like, slowly and in excruciating pain? And if not, why not? What's the difference?
Heda_Madness at 02:16 PM JST - 3rd December

I'm not in favour of it. However I'm not against it either. I eat meat, do I know that all meat I eat is killed in a humane way? No. Would I like to think it is? Yes. But then you could easily argue that battery farms etc are inhumane etc. I'm comfortable with where I am with regards to this. However, I do get mightily p!$$ed off with posters who know nothing about the subject (not you btw) and claim that the Japanese are driving a species to extinction. This is clearly not true and anybody with half a brain could google this and find out for themselves.
Papawhale at 09:53 PM JST - 3rd December

Heda--whether or not the Minkes are abundant they have a right to their lives and not be slaughtered. Whalers in the 1800's had no idea what they were doing and neither do the Japanese whalers beyond greed. That the Japanese continue this barbarism is to their shame, not humanity. "Harvesting" the whales in the Southern Ocean for "Science" (hah!) is unconscionable torture and murder of an intelligent, social being and the sooner the Japanese people stop these greedy whalers the better. And if they won't, Sea Shepherd will--more power to Hannah for lending her support!They have mine and if I was younger, I'd be down there.
ca1ic0cat at 10:03 PM JST - 3rd December

Hannah on the Sea Shepherd? Something must smell fishy. Of course with all the air time they are getting on "Animal Planet" it was only a matter of time before some celeb decided to climb on board.

She did do a good job of dying in "Blade Runner" though....
cleo at 12:47 AM JST - 4th December

Madness -

I'm not in favour of it.

Yet you also say,

I will argue that regulated whaling of certain species is acceptable

How is that different from being in favour of it?

But then you could easily argue that battery farms etc are inhumane etc.

I do. I have a great deal of trouble understanding how anyone who has an inkling of the conditions in battery farms can be 'comfortable' about eating the produce of those hell-holes. Japan is turning the Antarctic into yet another hell-hole.
bushlover at 06:36 AM JST - 4th December

Anti-Whalers are such Drama Queens.
Heda_Madness at 01:54 PM JST - 4th December

Cleo - I'm also not against it. If there were more humane ways of killing whales would you accept it? Of course not.

Papawhale - every animal has the right to live it's life free. But they don't. What makes whales so special?
cleo at 02:32 PM JST - 4th December

If there were more humane ways of killing whales would you accept it?

In the case of whales, it's a much more solid assumption; you can be sure that it has been killed in a non-humane, barbaric manner and probably suffered tremendously. It's all relative, of course; the pro-whalers bleat that it is 'more' humane now than it used to be; they claim an average time-to-death of two and a bit minutes, which is obviously nowhere near good enough. There is never going to be a humane way of killing whales, so in that sense you're right, I will never accept it.

I think you mean it would be hypocritical of you to condemn whaling, not to condone it.
davidattokyo at 11:13 AM JST - 5th December

Heda,

Yes it's interesting that people get fussy about a few hundred whales when there's international organizations out there condoning the over-exploitation of various fish species.

cleo,

As I "pro-whaler" my number one point is that whales live free lives, farmed animals don't. It makes no sense to talk about how humane we are to animals if the killing method is the sole or primary focus.

I think no sane person could honestly declare that they would rather be a farm animal than a whale. If you are a whale you have things so much better. Most whales will die of causes other than slaughter by humans in the first place. It's ridiculous to even make comparisons. But as you point out, even still the whalers have made significant improvements to whale killing methods.

Moderator: Readers, once again we remind you that references to other animals are not relevant to this discussion.
imacat at 08:38 PM JST - 5th December

She makes a fool of the Sea Shepherds.

Every single country around the Antarctic is opposed to whaling... every single one: South Africa, Argentina, Chile, Australia, New Zealand. All of them oppose whaling.

Japan's ludicrous Victorian-era style expeditions traveling 1000s and 1000s of kilometers to the furthest reaches of the globe to grab whales are making Japan look like the fool on the world stage.

As Japan keeps telling everybody, whaling is part of their culture. Japan has understand that a culture which is miraculously stretched half way around the world to include the Antarctic is plain ridiculous. And to ignore all those countries around the Antarctic is the height of arrogance.