Whale slaughter by Japanese unopposed as Sea Shepherd must try to refuel

For two weeks, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has chased, harassed and apparently riled whalers trying to conduct their annual hunt of hundreds of whales in Antarctic waters.

Now the Japan Whaling Assn. is speaking out and has has strongly suggested that Australia and New Zealand governments close their ports to Sea Shepherd's main vessel, the Steve Irwin, because it has been committing "criminal acts" in the Southern Ocean.

In a story published today in the West Australian, Keiichi Nakajima, JWA president, said the crew was committing "terror" before heading back to either New Zealand or Australia to refuel.

Sea Shepherd, on its website, confirmed the boat is bound for Australia. Capt. Paul Watson, after learning the Australian government was considering barring the Steve Irwin from making port, had this to say:

"It's time to put the government to the test. Will the government refuse entry to a ship bearing Steve Irwin's name and carrying a crew of fifteen Australian citizens returning from a successful mission to defend whales?"

Talk about drama!

But for now the whalers, who plan on killing about 1,000 minke whales and are using a loophole in a 1986 global whaling moratorium that allows "lethal research" on the docile leviathans, are unopposed.

How many are being harpooned this very moment? How many will die tomorrow or the next day? Nobody knows. When might Sea Shepherd return to the area and renew its destructive tactics? Depends on the Australian government.

Stay tuned.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: Crew on Japanese ship Yushin Maru 2 spray anti-whaling activists during a confrontation last year at this time. Credit: Institute of Cetacean Research

Comments

[Malcolm J. Brenner]

So now, throwing bottles of rancid butter on a whaling ship's deck is an "act of terror"? Seems to me blowing out a whale's guts with an explosive harpoon is the real "act of terror."

Australia was full of big talk about protecting whales at this time last year... obviously, the Aussies aren't what they used to be. Sea Shepherd appears to be the only organization on the planet actually willing to try to stop whaling at the source.

I am also sorry for the Japanese whaler lost overboard... the price of whale meat just went up a little. Not like anybody's buying the stuff anyway.

[Anastasia]

The Japanese are thumbing their nose at all of the world nations who are a part of the IWC (International Whale Commission), which includes the United States', Australia, and New Zealand. The area they are currently whaling in Antarctica is a designated whale sanctuary (YES , A WHALE SANCTUARY!).
I live on the coast of California - I deem this situation to be the same as if the Japanese came into our[California] Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and harpooned our gray, blue, and humpback whales and dared the United States' to press charges against them in violation of the IWC and our designated whale sanctuary. It is time for our world nations to band together - to tell Japan enough is enough and stop killing our endangered whales! If Japan professes to be such a sophisticated society, I am certain they have the technology and capital to farm their own food instead of mercilessly killing our world heritage - the endangered great whales. The great whales are endangered - when they are extinct, we as a species are that much closer to extinction as well.

[Mick]

The slaughter of whales by Norwegians, Americans and Russions also goes TOTALLY unopposed. In 2007 Norway killed 592 Minke whales, the U.S. killed 63 Bowhead whales and the Russians killed 131 Gray whales.

[Malcolm]

Mike,
There is a ban on commercial whaling for a good reason, the whales that Japan kills in thousands every year are ENDANGERED. Norway is not a member of the IWC. America and Russia has permits for indigenous substance whaling, I don’t see the Japanese living in igloo’s on the ice. Japan is a G7 nation who shouldn’t need to lie about ‘science’ to pursue rights over the Antarctica.

[Bob M]

Like it or not, what the whalers are doing is completely legal, what Sea Shepherd is doing is completely illegal.

Also it is not rancid butter the Sea Shepherd is throwing, it is butyric acid. Try throwing some of that stuff in your face before claiming that it is completely harmless.

Whale meat is delicious, I don't even know why anyone would oppose the killing of these retarded creatures of the sea anyways.

[Jason]

That isn't rancid butter that is a solid it is Butyric Acid and just one drop of that Acid in the eyes could blind a person for life. Paul Watson throw litter glass beer bottles that break on the Japanese ships and the strong winds blow that butyric acid all over the Japanese on their ship. Also that toxic Butyric Acid is a herbicide that kills aquatic life and is listed as a hazard substance in the US. Japan has as much rights to that areas as does Australia and New Zealand since they all signed the Antarctic Treaty System. Japan is a small nation that only 14% of it country is capable of being farmland. Japan has always fed their nation from the sea and that is their farmland.

Paul Watson and his PETA Navy needs to be put in jail before they kill someone.

[Peneloe Caribe]

To say the whale slaughter in Antarctica is legal is nothing less than ignorant, refueling in such a delicate eco system is most defnetely illegal. It is a disgrace that one boat is the only thing between these gentle giants and the Japanese killing and butchering fleet. So called Anti whaling governments and the heavily funded Greenpeace should be supporting Sea Shepherd´s efforts instead of name calling.

[Rick]

Japan is hunting Minke whales which are not endangered, they are classified as a 'lesser concern' species, and the Japanese take ~1% of their population each year. They are no danger of destroying the minke population. The number of minke killed by the Japanese is legal, like it or not. If you have a problem with the proper method is to attempt to change the law.

Secondly the 'Steve Irwin' carries a metal bar used for that the Sea Sheperds call 'tree spiking' or sinking of whaling vessels. Google to see their history of sinkings and attempted sinkings. Compare to this to say the Somali pirates, who have yet to sink anything or even try to.

The Sea Sheperds have attempted to interfer with the commercial operation of merchant vessels in international vessels which is illegal under internationa shipping law. This is somewhat ironic since the Sea Sheperds claim the Japanese are breaking International Law, where in reality only the Sea Sheperds are commiting illegal acts.

Hopefully the Sea Sheperds will be denied fuel. While they're stranded ashore they can read up on concepts such as rule of the law and how to seek to reform laws they dislike.

[Dmitry]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minke_whale :
"The IUCN list the northern species as Lower Risk/Near Threatened and the southern as Lower Risk/Conservation dependent. CITES list both of the species in Appendix I (endangered)."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Ocean_Whale_Sanctuary :
"The Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is an area of 50 million square kilometres surrounding the continent of Antarctica where the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has banned all types of commercial whaling."
http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-090103-1.html :
"The International Whaling Commission has also voted to condemn the so called scientific whaling activities of the Japanese whaling industry."
"Since the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was established in 1977 we have never caused a single injury to a single person, we have never been convicted of a felony, and we have never been sued. Sea Shepherd exercises extreme caution to avoid causing injury and we have an unblemished safety record without even an accidental incident."

By the way, the former chair of the International Whaling Commission is on the Sea Shepherd's advisory board. Their legal justification is the UN World Charter for Nature, which allows nongovernmental organizations to intervene when governments fail to enforce conservation laws (http://www.motherjones.com/interview/2008/11/paul-watson.html ).

[Carl]

The proper role of a reporter is to report the news and by enlightening the readership, allow them to form opinions. The use of the word "slaughter" puts a very definite slant to the article. Maybe the author wanted to inflame people and provoke discussion--if so, this headline belongs in the National Enquirer, not the newspaper of record for a city like LA.

[Jonathan]

Time for the Aussie government to make a decision: Are they with the whalers (who I consider the real terrorists) or are they with their protectors (who the vast majority of Australians support)? Lets see how much backbone the Aussie government really has.

[Ashley]

What the Japanese are doing is completely illegal. Whales are only allowed to be killed for RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY. You think they're sending a huge fleet of ships down there in a multi-million dollar operation for research?! They're doing it for MONEY, to profit from killing whales. Which is against the law. Make no mistake, THIS IS COMMERCIAL WHALING DISGUISED AS RESEARCH and anyone who can't see this is totally naive.

[Joseph Cool]

99% of these antiwhaling comments are frome the same person. It's part of the sea shepperds propaganda machine. they do it everywhere .