Whale hunts by Japan: Is the tide finally turning against them?

While walking into a Whole Foods market recently, I was greeted by two Greenpeace recruiters, and we talked about Japanese whaling in the Antarctic and clashes between whalers and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

I asked why Greenpeace did not send a boat to the region this season and was told it's because Australia and New Zealand, which do not approve of disruptive tactics by the two groups, had announced it would not respond to any emergency arising from the clashes.

In an e-mail, John Hocevar, campaign manager for Greenpeace USA, did not confirm this. He replied: "We are focusing our pressure where it can have the most impact, on the decision makers in Tokyo."

Hocevar noted that two Japanese-based Greenpeace activists were jailed and facing prison sentences of up to 10 years for their roles "in blowing the whistle on illegal whale meat smuggling."

In May, Greenpeace posted its version of the story on its website:

"Greenpeace Japan used undercover investigators and the testimony of informers to expose that large amounts of prime cut whale meat were being smuggled from the whaling ship Nisshin Maru disguised as personal baggage, labeled "cardboard" or "salted stuff" and addressed to the private homes of crewmembers.

"Greenpeace activists Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki intercepted one box out of four sent to one address, discovered it contained whale meat valued at up to $3,000, and took it to the Tokyo public prosecutor."

The two were subsequently arrested and charged with stealing whale meat. Greenpeace considers them political prisoners.

Said a hopeful Hocevar: "There are several indications that the tide is turning. The scandal over the whale meat smuggling and the success of the campaign in Japan made it necessary for the whalers to hire non-Japanese crew for the first time this season.

"Kyodo Senpaku, the entity set up by the Fisheries Agency of Japan to run their whaling operation, announced that they will be closing their flagship whale meat restaurant for economic reasons.

"The Oriental Bluebird, which the whaling fleet has long used to refuel and offload whale meat in the Southern Ocean, was stripped of its Panamanian flag and fined. And fewer and fewer Japanese are eating whale meat, or in favor of whaling in the Southern Ocean. Commercial whaling is a dying industry, and we are doing all we can to speed along its demise."

Despite all this, Greenpeace was sharply criticized by  the Sea Shepherd for not sending a ship to help harass the whalers. On Tuesday, the Sea Shepherd's flagship vessel, Steve Irwin, was engaged in a search for a whaler who fell overboard and was presumed lost at sea.

--Pete Thomas

Photos: Greenpeace activists try to prevent a Japanese vessel from whaling in Antarctica's Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in 1999 (top photo). Credit: Agence France-Presse / Getty Images. In second photo, a Greenpeace activist is arrested during a protest at St. Kitts, the site of a 2006 International Whaling Commission conference. Credit: Associated Press

Comments

[Penelope caribe]

I believe that Sea Shepherd is the biggest thorn in the side of the whalers. I know many people who donated a lot of money to Greeneace last year so that they would send a ship back to Antarctica. At least Captain Paul Watson is as good as his word and his ship and crew once again have and will save the lives of these wondrous mammals of the sea, risking their own lives in doing so.

[Robert]

The other side of the Greenpeace story is the truth, which LA times neglected to mention. Every year, japanese crew members are given good cuts of whale meat as part of their bonus. A few of the crew did not want the meat and sent their share to another crewmember known to like the meat. Thus, the the activists were rightfully jailed for interfering with the mail and stealing property that was not theirs. Dumb mistake.

In any case, the Greenpeace efforts still have more of a chance of being effective than the vigilante Sea Shepherds. Most people cannot sympathize with violence as a way to force change. But by working with the end-users to prove that whale meat is simply vile is a much better way to lead to social change.

[ease]

I applaud the efforts of both Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace to stop the Japanese from slaughtering whales. The Japanese claim they're doing research, well, it's been quite a few years now so where is their research report? What did they find out? That whales are dying from Japanese harpoons? Let's boycott Japanese products till they stop this shameful slaughter.
And while we're on this; let's not forget that the Canadians slaughter hundreds of thousands of baby seals every year. Let's also boycott Canadian products till they come to their senses. Don't buy a Blackberry buy an iPhone instead.

[Procedural]

No matter the moral concerns of the people on either side.
At this point the actions of the Japanese and Norwegians are legal.

Currently we are having real problems with Somalian pirates.
We do not need Greenpeace pirates to confuse the issue.

Continue to educate people and believe they will do the right thing.

[JustStop!]

Greenpeace seems to think the law does not apply to them.

They violate territorial waters and immigration laws to protest in St.Kitts, but that should be ok since the protest was peaceful. Like drug smugglers they sailed into territorial waters after being explicitly denied permission, then offloaded people and junk to float onto the shores of a sovereign country. But that should be ok because that country has a different opinion that Greenpeace. Um, no, you don't get to pick and choose which laws you want to obey. You don't get to break the laws because you have an opinion.

They steal a package, I mean "intercept" a package in Japan, then call themselves political prisoners when they are arrested for that theft. We hear that you're passionate, but you can't do whatever you want.

Ugh, GreenCriminals would be more accurate than GreenPeace.

[Karina Haldane]

Greenpeace! I will never donate to them as long as i live! I did a few years a go but now support Sea Sheperd as they at least put the money to good use. You should be ashamed of yourselves Greenpeace!

[starbird]

You're forgetting that Greenpeace raises HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of dollars to stop the whaling and doesn't use any of it to do that. It seems that they pocket the money. They buy space on every conceivable web site to raise money playing on the sympathy of compassionate people and then they don't do anything.

What Sea Shepherd does is not violent, it's harassment. It's annoying. It's irritating. But it's not violent. Stink bombs and methyl cellulose are not violent. BRUTALLY AND HORRIFICALLY SLAUGHTERING WHALES IS VIOLENT. Doing it in a whale sanctuary, in direct violation of the United Nations Charter for Nature, an Australian court ruling that says they can't even be in those waters, the IWC moratorium saying that there will be NO COMMERCIAL whaling, that is violence again nature and whales.

Out of 6 billion people on earth, Sea Shepherd has 40 who are willing to do something and risk their lives doing it. They are to be commended. With so much money in the world, why didn't just one, or two or three wealthy people get together to send a boat out to continue the harassment of the Cetacean Death Star so that no whales would be blown up internally and choke on their own blood while being towed by the killer ships? Less than $500,000 to save all those whales who are dying as I type this. No one, not one person has come forth to provide that second boat. No one. Since Paul found the fleet so early on, no whales would have been slaughtered this season if there had been a second boat.

Or ... even send a tanker so that Paul could refuel at sea. Anything to save these intelligent, sentient, compassionate and gentle beings.

Where are there some people with money who actually care?

People with money buy cars worth more than that and houses in the multiple millions. Sea Shepherd only needed a second boat....

Shame on humans.

[Brad Torrence]

Sorry "Procedural", the actions of the Japanese whalers are not legal. They are in violation of international conservation law in at least three areas. They regulary harvest whales in the International Antarctic Whale Sanctuary. This sanctuary was set up by the International Whaling Commission (IWC), to which Japan is a signatory. Clearly a blatant violation - like shooting bear in Yosemite.

Secondly, they harvest fin whales, which the UN has declared endangered. Killing endangered species is prohibited by international law.

Third, under IWC regulations whaling is only allowed for the purpose of research. Hunting for commercial purposes or to harvest whales for food is illegali. No one believes the Japanese need to kill about 1,000 whals every year for research. This is a joke and everyone knows it.

Sadly, governments are too timid to stand up to the Japanese criminals (and that is precisely what they are), since they are valued trading partners. Thank goodness the Sea Shepherd ( and to a lesser extent Greenpeace) have the courage to put themselves at risk and make sure the story is told. As the sea teeters toward ecological collapse, these are the true heroes of our time.

[Ariel Rose]

Captain Paul Watson in his well over 30 years of interjecting with cruelty towards animals though his seal campaigns, Galapagos Islands, Antarctica and so much more, is the only man capable of truly defending whales.

As he says, you do not stand by and witness a child being abused or a puppy being beaten in the street, you go out and stop it. He has never witnessed a whale being harmed or killed in front of him, because he actually has the courage and fortitude to stop it.

There are more than enough Greenpeacers' who will stand by and watch and take photos, but only one Captain who will prevent it....and last year he saving over 500 whales...that's a pretty good investment in their lives and future.

If you can't stand the fact that one person in this world has enough courage to do this, it is a mere reflection of one's own courage and philosophies.

[Al]

It seems that if the killing done right there is no problem! How about cows and chickens? Slaughtered! No? No protest?? Ohhh Right! The members of GreenPEace eating them !!! So If u eat something then there is no protest, but if u don't then let's complain to people who do! - Very strange tactics GreenPeace!
Furthermore - same thing w/ fuagra! Nobody know that it is actually humane! Not baaad to the gees! But wait some strange crap for brain actress dosn't like it so all the yappies strat crying fowl too ! Hmmm....
Japan is an overpopulated island! - Try to tell people to stop eating food ??? Yeah right - Great Idea! This is not "the whales are cute" issue - This is National Security of Japan issue - no food - angry people! Try to pull this shit in US - u will be thrown in prison quicker then u can blink!

P.S. I 've been to Japan I ate whale meat! IT TASTES GREAT !!!! all the dissimilars - just try it! It is delicious! Better then your american Corn Fed/ Hormone crappy lean Hebrew beef! As for mercury - scare tactics! Mercury is in every freaking fish! If u scared of it then don't eat anything from the oceans! Including seaweed oysters or other ocean food!

As for the animalrights fanatics - GET A LIFE ! Time to Respect other people opinions too! Terrorists!

[SaveTheWhales]

GreenPISS is collecting millions in the name of defending whales and doing nothing with those millions. What a crock. Give the money to Sea Shepherd so that they can buy a second ship and actually stop this violation of our oceans.

And hey AL Bundy, why don't you try eating a human next time you neanderthal. There are plenty of them. Do the world a favour and start with yourself. National Securty of Japan issue... PFFT. Dumbest. statement. ever.

[David Ainley]

Other than them copping out philosophically, what is it that New Zealand is supposed to respond with should there be an "emergency"? In the past few years, the US has helped 3 Chilean seabass fishing vessels that were in trouble in the Ross Sea, including two illegal ones. Seems to me, the "Law of the Sea" is to respond if called upon regardless of who is involved. So, it's bravado for NZ to state otherwise. What's to loose? Japan upping the price on Toyotas sold in NZ or not buying NZ pine logs?

[cameron]

What is Greenpeace doing down their. Poseing. Every year they send a ship down their to take pictures. To quote Captain Paul Watson "you don't walk down a stree and see a woman getting raped and just watch, you don't see a puppy getting kicked in the face and do nothing, and you don't watch whales die and just take their picture." The whalers say that Sea Shepherd is violent. But what do they do? Sea Shepherd crew throw bottles of rotten butter at their ships and the whalers respond with guns and flash granades. In 5 Antarctic campaigns Sea Shepherd has never injured a Whaler. When they engaged the factory ship Nissin Maru in the 2007-08 campaign the whalers said they had three injurys. The Sea Shepherds replyed saying they had a doctor onboard and the japanese did not reply. Since 1987 Japan has conducted "Research" whaleing but in those 21 years the Institute of Cetacean Research has not posted any results. What is green peace doing? Wheir were they when japan kills thuands of dolphins and pilot whales n Taiji.when the canadiens beat the brains out of 275,000 baby harp seals. Sea Shepherd was the only one defendiong the seals and dolphins. On April 2008 the canadien coast guard illeagally boarded the Societys Flagship the Farley Mowat in international water. They did that because they were takeing pictures of sealers clubbing the brains out of seals. The Canadien Department of Fisherys and Oceans say that the seals are killed Humanely but 90% of the seals are under 4 weeks old and 40% of those are skinned alive. The Farley Mowat was also rammed by the Canadien Coast Guard's ice breaker Des Groseilliers. "The oceans are dieing in our time,and if the Navies of the world had any sence of responsibility they would be saveing the oceans instead of playing silly little war games." Captain Paul Watson.

[James E]

Sorry Brad Torrence

You don't know the first thing about the IWC or it's purpose, read it and weep (excerpts from thei IWC website).

The purpose of the Convention is to provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the **orderly development of the whaling industry**. In addition, the Commission encourages, co-ordinates and funds whale research, publishes the results of scientific research and promotes studies into related matters such as the humaneness of the killing operations.

http://www.iwcoffice.org/commission/iwcmain.htm#history

In addition to reviewing the research carried out by member nations and other research groups, The Commission sponsors and promotes international research. As part of their response to the decision for a **pause in commercial whaling**, some member governments have implemented major research programmes which may include the sampling of whales caught under special permits which the Convention allows them to grant.

(http://www.iwcoffice.org/commission/iwcmain.htm#research

A major area of discussion in recent years has been the issuing of permits by member states for the killing of whales for scientific purposes. The use of such permits is not new. The right to issue them is enshrined in Article VIII of the 1946 Whaling Convention. Whilst member nations must submit proposals for review, in accordance with the Convention, it is the member nation that ultimately decides whether or not to issue a permit, and **this right overrides any other Commission regulations** including the **moratorium and sanctuaries**. Article VIII also requires that the **animals be utilized**once the scientific data have been collected.

http://www.iwcoffice.org/conservation/permits.htm

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