Activists, Japanese whalers clash in Antarctic waters

Source: AFP

by Madeleine Coorey Madeleine Coorey – Sun Feb 7, 2:42 am ET

SYDNEY (AFP) – Anti-whaling activists and Japanese harpoonists have blamed each other for a collision between their ships in Antarctic waters, as the environmentalists warned Sunday of more clashes to come.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has accused the harpoon ship Yushin Maru No.3 of intentionally slamming into its vessel the Bob Barker on Saturday. The Japanese say they were rammed as they tried to avoid a collision.

"We expect that there will be further collisions because they are going to try and whale and we're not going to move," Paul Watson, head of the Sea Shepherd mission, told AFP on Sunday.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100207/wl_asia_afp/australiajapanwhaling_20100207074721

If half of this "battle" is indeed in the media, Watson et al need a new grinder for their monkey.

after all the sexual harrassment suits....at least he paid to have Conservaation Ship retrofitted

I was amazed at what the activist will go thru to try and block the whalers from catching a whale ! Why the Japanese insist on ignoring the rest of the world and help save the beautiful animal from becoming just a memorey to our planet ! Iam disgusted when I seen a whale being dragged up onto the ship with blood pouring out of the whale from the harpoon. Then a helicopter will take a video as they take the whale apart,the entire thing is both sad and disgusting . When will the Japanese get over their greed and look at the bigger picture ?
IMHO, Nic

They will again be in my thoughts and on my contribution list this payday.

SSCS already knows what the majority of Americans have yet to figure out--the status quo is broken and stuck is self-perpetuation mode.

Sometime in the near future, a bunch of politicians and their appointees are going to be attending a big public relations circus centered on a treaty to finally ban, for all time, the anachronistic and barbaric practice is murdering sentient non-humans. There will be much adulation of leadership, there will be much recognition of "the diplomatic process," and there will be not mention whatsoever of the fact that groups like Sea Shepherd and their supporters will have been entirely responsible for refusing to allow the issue to drop out of site and out of mind for the masses.

That's OK though, as long as it stops. :)

but I'm not opposed to being on the same page with others once in awhile.

But, to be honest, I've spent my career working with and around Republicans and other Conservatives in Alaska, so disagreement is my comfort zone.

thanks for what you do

:yourock:

The Japanese DO NOT NEED WHALES!!!

And a kick in da pants to whoever unrec's a post about this. You're a dipshit.

The clients.

:shrug:

:shrug:

There are three times as many cows in the US as there are whales in the entire world.

14 species of whales are still on the endangered species list.

But hey, Japanese schoolkids need to eat whales for "scientific research".

I wonder if the sounds of ship propellers keep whales from breeding? As in, the noise keeps the whales from calling for mates or makes them too stressed to want to mate.

the Japanese are killing dolphins and selling the meat un-labeled as dolphin. The mercury levels are too high, they are not allowed to sell it.

:loveya:

until somebody holes a fuel tank.

How is the SSCS going to spin it when there's HFO or diesel leaking into the whale sanctuary?

"No it isn't. We defueled the ship. They're just trying to make us look bad."

One of the more entertaining sites on this is http://seashepherdwatch.org. It's run by direct action animal rights activists who are tired of Paul Watson's shit.

"He rammed our bow by going sideways into us!"

I wouldn't put it past 'em.

But Sea Shepherd never does anything wrong.

As if the Shonan Maru struck the Bob Barker with her stern in some grand choreographed maneuver.

Bullshit. If you're the stand on vessel and you're getting crowded on the port side by the give way vessel, you throw the rudder hard right and GTFO. That's the mantra of collision avoidance we learn at the academy, "Right full back full". The fact that the Bob Barker was struck proves that she was crowding the Shonan Maru to a dangerous degree and was inside the Shonan Maru's turning circle.

Want proof that the Bob Barker was moving to starboard? Watch the factory ship in the foreground as it disappears to port.

Direct action animal rights activists? While that's what they claim to be, it's telling that for all the mudslinging and personal attacks they're doing there's no trace at all of who any of them are. I even searched on the domain name, and maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I'm wondering what they're hiding with an anonymous registration. For all anyone knows, they're more that likely part of the Japanese whaling lobby showing their complete desperation...

Anyway, thanks for posting the link to that site. Looking at it has influenced me to go and donate for the first time to Sea Shepherd...

""One of the more entertaining sites on this is http://seashepherdwatch.org . It's run by direct action animal rights activists who are tired of Paul Watson's shit.""

Paul Watson has saved about 1000 wales in the last 5 years.

how many has seashepherdwatch saved?

Total BS site, claiming the Ady Gil caused the wreck.

It was dead in the water, the other ship went straight over it. There's video to prove it.

You can tell just by the look of this site it's bogus. There's no animal rights going on here, it's all just bashing seashepherd.

:thumbsup:

Alyce

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLdUISE3e8c&annotation_id=annotation_221633&feature=iv

Look close at the stern of Ady Gil in the two videos that show her stern. There is a HELL of a lot of forward thrust coming out of the back of that little black boat.

Well even if the skipper of the Ady Gil intentionally moved in front, he sacrificed his ship for a cause. Because he knew he would lose, composite against steel.

The bottom line is the Japanese are killing whales with a loophole, it's plain as day. RESEARCH, is says so right on the side of the ship. Research my ass.

Are you defending them?

SeaShepherd has saved 100's of whales, more power to them, however they do it, as long as nobody is physically harmed or dies.

Everybody whines about global warming but they don't give a damn about the fact we are in the middle of a species die-off which is being caused by man.

It is, however, possible to hate both Japanese whalers and Paul the Pirate, the man whose tree-spiking bullshit brought absolute terror to the Northwest logging community in the 1980s. This is the man who caused my mother to get over hating pistols. (Very long story.)

And you will note: both Greenpeace and Earth First have gotten a lot farther with their activism now than they ever would have if they'd have continued to use Paul the Pirate's ecoterrorism.

It's probably the Japanese, if you follow the links and look at the pictures they are all taken from the Japanese vessels.

A whois search shows the source is blocked. Sort of funny that a .org charity whouldn't reveal their source, never have seen that before. Sort of funny also they would not have any contact link where you could donate.

BULLSH*T LYING AS*HO*ES

It's extremely difficult to judge relative motion at sea when there is no fixed reference point.

From my POV the fault was mutual in both incidents. Both parties were engaged in a dangerous game of "Chicken". Both parties failed to abide by the established collision avoidance rules.

http://www.boatingsafety.com/colregs.htm

count on it.

The Sea Shepherd ships Steve Irwin and the Bob Barker have successfully escorted the Japanese whaling fleet out of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

After repeated orders from Sea Shepherd to desist their illegal activities and remove themselves from the Southern Ocean Whaling fleet, the Nisshin Maru, Yushin Maru, Yushin Maru #2 and Shonan Maru #2 have crossed north of sixty degrees and continue to head North by Northwest.

“We did not actually expect them to follow our orders to quit the Whale Sanctuary but they have indeed exited and are now running outside the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.” Said Captain Paul Watson. “They have not killed a single whale since February 5th. We intend to turn four whaling free days into weeks.”

At 0500 Hours on February 7th the Nisshin Maru was intercepted by the Steve Irwin at 64 Degrees 2 Minutes South and 80 Degrees 11 Minutes East. The whaling fleet then ran Northeast for 95 miles on a course of 060 Degrees and then changed course at 1600 Hours on February 7th to 260 Degrees began to run Northwest for 260 miles. The whaling fleet left the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary at 1830 Hours (Sydney Time) at 60 Degrees South and 77 Degrees East. (February 9th, 2010)

The Sea Shepherd ships Steve Irwin and Bob Barker continue to chase the Japanese whaling fleet.

“We intend to keep on their tail and to prevent any whaling operations for as long as our fuel reserves last and that should be for another few weeks at least,” Said Bob Barker captain Chuck Swift.

The Sea Shepherd ships are with the entire whaling fleet except the Yushin Maru #3. That ship has not been seen since the collision with the Bob Barker on February 6th.

http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-100209-1.html

Go get 'em!