Sea Shepherd intercepts Japanese whalers in Antarctic waters

Sunday 21st December, 07:39 AM JST

SYDNEY —

Militant environmental activists said Saturday they had intercepted the Japanese whaling fleet in Antarctic waters and attempted to attack one of the boats with stink bombs.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship the Steve Irwin had found the Japanese harpoon vessel the Yushin Maru 2 in dense fog and dangerous ice conditions in the Southern Ocean, the group said in a statement.

“The Steve Irwin launched a Delta boat with a crew to attack the Yushin Maru 2 with rotten butter bombs,” the statement said.

“Unfortunately, the wind increased to 50 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 Steve Irwin was now in pursuit of the Japanese fleet, which had stopped whaling and was “on the run”, Watson said.

He said the whalers were in Australia’s self-declared Antarctic economic exclusion zone and urged Canberra to order the fleet to stop the hunt.

An international moratorium on commercial whaling was imposed in 1986 but Japan kills hundreds of whales a year in the name of research, with the meat nonetheless ending up on dinner tables.

For the past four years Watson has led a Sea Shepherd vessel to find, track and attempt to impede the whaling ships during their hunting season, the Southern Hemisphere summer.

He claimed earlier this year that his ship’s harassment of the Japanese whalers last season had saved the lives of 500 of the giant mammals.

The International Whaling Commission has condemned Irwin’s tactics, which include boarding the Japanese vessels, but he is unrepentant.

“It looks like Whale Wars, season two, is officially underway,” Watson said in the statement Saturday. “We’ve got them on the run.”

Last season, an Australian customs vessel shadowed the whalers, making videos and documenting their activities for a possible international court challenge.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett said Thursday the government was still considering legal action against Japan and was also “continuing to push very, very hard in the diplomatic environment” for an end to the annual hunt.

Wire reports

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Latest 15 of 92 Total Comments Show All

davidattokyo at 03:22 PM JST - 24th December

It's the definition used in the Humane Slaughter Act.

If the "Humane Slaugher Act" (where? US?) defines whaling as inhumane then I'd be surprised. I suspect you are just extrapolating yours views as if they were absolute though.

The fact that you think how much an animal suffers when it is killed to fill your belly is 'trivial' speaks volumes.

To mischaracterise another's statements is to forfeit the argument. To focus on HOW you rob a whale of it's life is to trivialise it. What's by far the most important is the quality of the animal's life while it is alive. That'll be the case until the day when I can honestly say I'd rather be reborn as a farm animal than a whale. I'm not going to lie to myself about it. The whaling culture is superior to the one that I was raised in. There, I said it. If I am big enough to accept it, so too should be others.

Duh. That's why we're saying there's reason not to eat whale meat.

Duh. That's why we're saying you need to harpoon whales in order to get whale meat. You have your objectives, we have ours. The difference is that we are tolerant of diversity, as I have noted previously.
davidattokyo at 03:25 PM JST - 24th December

Just checked the "Humane Slaughter Act". It seems that it is a US law, so it's irrelevant with respect to foreign whaling in the first place (unless US standards are absolute, much like cleo's way of thinking). Furthermore it seems that the law is only relevant with respect to certain animals. Whales seem to be excluded (how else would the Americans be killing whales legally under US law?)
imacat at 03:52 PM JST - 24th December

The simple fact of the matter is that Japan's Antarctic whaling days are numbered.

Whale meat will never be more than a niche market in Japan, and with a drastically shrinking population, it's a market that needs less and less supply.

Japan's own data shows that there are an abundance of whales in the seas around Japan. Plenty to supply a tiny niche market.

This begs the question... why is extra meat needed from the Antarctic? Why burn all that gasoline and release all that greenhouse gas and endanger the pristine Antarctic environment, just for a few tonnes of whale meat that could be caught locally?

Perhaps many don't know about the Madrid agreement. This is an almost unique document in which countries have agreed to preserve the unique Antarctic environment for science and peace. It also manages to prohibit mining there for 50 years. It's a truly amazing and beautiful thing that countries could agree to this.

Compare the spirit of the Madrid agreement with Japan's rapacious Antarctic killing fleet, grabbing whales to protect Japan's oh-so-precious food culture... to provide a luxury food for a few ojisans in izakayas.

Also consider the fact that EVERY SINGLE COUNTRY in the region opposes whaling. Every single one!! South Africa, Chile, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand... all countries that naturally consider the Antarctic to be in their neck of the woods.

How on earth could a country such as Japan, located on the other side of the globe, be so arrogant as to ignore every single country in that region?!

When we start to really think about what Japan is doing, it is painfully apparent that Japan's Antarctic whaling is extremely provocative and does indeed belong to another era.

davidattokyo wants to see a "nimby" compromise, with Japan taking the whales it needs locally... I agree with him wholeheartedly.

They aren't all old. They aren't all men. And their motivations for eating whale are completely different to the disrespectful crap that cleo makes it out to be.

If anyone wants to get an idea of the mentality of these ojisans, have a look at this link, it's absolutely hilarious what these guys come out with. Some of it shows a poorly concealed dislike for foreigners: http://www.whaling.jp/english/isana.html
davidattokyo at 03:59 PM JST - 24th December

imacat, the fact that the Norwegians and Icelanders are exporting whale meat to Japan is not consistent with your apparent belief that extra meat from the Antarctic is not needed.

Why are they going to the effort of transporting their meat from one side of the other if, as you seem to believe, it is not needed? I don't understand this contradiction, unless of course you are totally wrong which would explain it.
davidattokyo at 04:01 PM JST - 24th December

imacat, I don't want to see a compromise where Japan takes whales "locally". I want to see a compromise where Japan does not take whales from the recognised waters of nations that don't like whaling, e.g., the economic exclusion zone of those nations. Waters beyond the EEZ are international waters and thus can not reasonably be considered to belong to any particular nation.
davidattokyo at 04:03 PM JST - 24th December

imacat, the "ojisans" you refer to include women and school children. Do you actually read the links that you post before spouting nonsense about what they say?
imacat at 04:30 PM JST - 24th December

Talking about "spouting nonsense", what do you think about this ojisan's comment from Isana?

Various factors are woven into the anti-whaling attitude of western countries, such as the fear and wariness against Japan, a maritime nation, and the envy and antipathy against Japan's success as an economic power.

I mean, this guy is one of your mates, right? So for example, if you were both chowing down on a juicy whale steak at a local izakaya and he came out with this, would you nod in silent agreement with his great wisdom?
Rickyrab at 05:03 PM JST - 24th December

Let's face it: if you want whaling to continue, whales must survive as a bunch of species. Furthermore, there's the ethical problem that whales are relatively intelligent animals. If you can find a way to make a stupid whale for the meat, be my guest; however, whales as they currently are constitute a problem for the ethical eater. Other than that, my idea of whaling is Captain Ahab waving harpoons angrily at Moby Dick, so refer to someone who knows more about whaling and whale meat.
dreamdrifter at 11:10 PM JST - 24th December

imacat - the rhetorical tone of your question suggests that you too know full well that he wouldn't agree with such nonsense. In other words, you are already aware that reasonings given by one pro-whaler will differ from reasonings given by another pro-whaler. There's plenty of uninformed, racist nonsense being spouted by anti-whalers which someone could equally bring up and say to you "this guy is one of your mates, right?"

Davidattokyo has a point when he asked how there could be a trade in whale meat if there is supposedly no demand. Why not discuss that instead of producing a red herring.
dreamdrifter at 11:17 PM JST - 24th December

davidattokyo - I can't see how Japan not taking whales from an anti-whaling nation's EEZ could possibly be described as a "compromise". Correct me if I am wrong but Japan is already taking whales from waters which are considered international waters by most countries on Earth?
Molenir at 03:49 AM JST - 25th December

The so called EEZ is just that. So called. A self declared area that Australia claims exclusive rights to. Rights that have no basis in International Law.

No measure of intelligence has been or can really be made about how intelligent a whale is. Despite what you may have heard, as far as anyone knows, whales are just dumb animals. Far as I'm concerned, they're just cows of the sea. Have to protect the herds so they don't become extinct, but otherwise, hunting them is fair game.
kenjinakasone at 07:12 PM JST - 25th December

we should blast this sea whatever out of the water. deep satisfaction guaranteed.
jaotsu at 04:59 AM JST - 26th December

Let's be realistic and learn some history here. The Japanese have been whaling for centuries for food. It was only in the last 150 years that the whale population are nearing extinction. Do you know why? During the 1800's it was America and Europe who hunted whales to near extinction. For whale oil to burn in their lamps and for their meat which they used in dog food. If America and Europe never caused this situation in the first place, whales would not be endangered. Now the Americans are trying to blame the Japanese for something they caused.
hobbsy70 at 11:00 PM JST - 28th January

"Fishing" if it was about 'catching' then it would be called "Catching" not 'fishing'. "Fishing" & "Fishermen" is about understanding the environment they are in, & hunting in sustainable & acceptable manner, neither of which principle modern Japanese "fishermen" accept or apply themselves too...
michaelqtodd at 08:25 AM JST - 29th January

Ady Gil captain recalls collision horror

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10622955