Whale war between Japan and Sea Shepherd becomes increasingly confrontational

The war over killing whales between Japan and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, is turning increasingly violent, with the latter group acting as aggressor.

Click on this link and check out the latest video posted on Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research website. It shows the Steve Irwin and its crew of activists colliding with a whaling vessel, causing it to list, as a Japanese crewman yells and as water canons cascade.

This is occurring in the Ross Sea, a remote Antarctic region, so if a boat begins to sink or someone gets injured, help is a long way off. I'm against commercial whaling and am among a large number of people worldwide who question whether Japan's so-called research effort is worthwhile or necessary.

But judging from the video, Capt. Paul Watson is exercising questionable behavior in his attempt to disrupt the whaling effort. It leaves one to wonder whether his actions are truly on behalf of the whales, or merely to obtain dramatic footage for the Animal Planet series, "Whale Wars."

-- Pete Thomas

Photos: Sea Shepherd's Steve Irwin collides with the stern of a Japanese harpoon whaling ship in the Antarctic (top). In second photo, videographer Jamie Holland braces for an evasive maneuver aboard an inflatable boat as a Japanese whaling ship bears down. Credit: Sea Shepherd

Comments

[Earl G. Sullivan USN Retired]

Only an Idiot would do the things this guy Watson and his group do... I spent 20 plus years as a Bosn in the US Navy and can tell all about safty and maritime violations . What i can tell you is that this group violates them all. I could give a damn about the Whales one way or the other but I do care about human life.. Its only a matter of time before Death happens.They commit acts that Pirates commit and fly the Skull and cross bones... Geeze... Lowering a person over the side in a a bosns chair while doing 8 knts...thur antartic water tells me he { Watson ) is not fit for command. Fouling or trying to foul and disable a Ship is an act of PIRACY pure and simple.. Mabey the Australian Govt needs to go back in time and view again when the HMAS Melbourn Cut an An American Destroyer Named Evans in half.. It was 1969 in the Gulf of Tonkin. The front half of the ship sank in less than three minutes... it took the lives of many of my friends and shipmates with it...I encourge all of you to look it up and see for your selves what a ship looks like when its cut in half..... Please stop these mad Pirates before tradgey happens....

[John]

Come on guys a tv show about whale war?? I'm not against whaling but I'm against over whaling. It should be limite per year allow make a law. Just like hunting, fishing we fellow rules keep the Eco system balance. I think this show is little racist against Japanese people. Coutry such as nordway, Russia kills whales too. What about people in canada kills seals with sledge hammer blood bath on ice. If those fools on sea sepherd are really a hero know what they doing they will not be on tv shows on some animal channel.

[doug]

I can't help it, i totally distain these tree huggers. Hunting whales is the same as hunting deer. These libs will fight to preserve the life of some snail darter, but first in line to abort their childen. Then turn around and destroy the earth's last guardian of freedom by supporting Obama and his lying minions. What a crock. I hoot and holler when they totally fail at this silly endevour over and over. Wonder if they'll air the episode that shows them running out of fuel, being helplessly crushed by ice flows and going down for the last time. Those saps.

[Sigbin]

whales can`t fight, but mother nature has its own way say example " tsunami" there even now.

[william huard]

How else should Sea shepherd deal with a country that expects unfettered access to all marine resources everywhere? These people are liars and I support the Sea shepherds efforts against these criminal poachers

[Alex]

Since one of the Japanese ships has actually ran into and actually sank one of the Sea Shepard boats, I guess it's only fair that they give a little back.

[david springer]

USE HELICOPTER TO THROW ACID BOMBS ON OTHER BOAT.USE MORE ROPE TO TANGLE UP THEIR SHIP.

[Kobe Beef]

Laymond, you don't know what terrorism is all about. It's about time someone with some inner fortitude stopped these rape and pillagers of the sea. Their overpopulation problem is no excuse for the slaughter of free living mammals. Makes me wonder why we didn't drop half a dozen atomic bombs listening to panty wipes like you. There have been no injuries to Japanese Whalers nor has there been the intention to do so by Sea Shepards...Paul is no longer with Greenpeace because greenpeace doesn't have the backbone to do what Paul and his volunteers are doing. Eco Terrorists, what a joke.....how would you feel if a group of neighbors came in your back yard and squwered your family pet in the name of feeding the neighborhood. Bet you would open your eyes a bit more. get used to it. sAVE THE WHALES!!!

[ericrazar]

these greenpeace types are eco-terrorists. plus they really dont give a crap what really matters like humans. They screw with Japan but not Norway or China? how convenient.
greenpeace does other stupid stuff too.

read this excerpt from Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

“Greenpeace is part of an international network of socialist, anti-development organizations located in all the capitals of the developed world and most developing nations,” said Niger Innis, National Spokesperson for CORE. “To serve its own ideological agenda, it wants to keep the Third World permanently mired in Third World poverty, disease and death. So far it has succeeded. We are here to tell these radicals that we aren’t going to stand for this anymore. And neither are the poor people of Africa, Asia and Latin America.”

“Greenpeace claims it is ‘for the people,’” Innis noted. “In reality, it is a powerful elite of First World activist whose hardcore agenda puts people last. It's time to hold these zealots accountable for the misery and death they cause."

Worldwide, 2 billion people still have no electrical power, no lights, no refrigeration, no clean drinking water. Instead, women and children squat in mud and wet cow dung, to collect manure for fuel. Millions die every year from lung diseases caused by indoor air pollution from these cooking fires, or diarrhea due to contaminated food and drinking water.

Nuclear, hydroelectric and fossil fuel plants could help solve these problems – and provide electricity and hope for schools, hospitals, businesses, industries and communities. But green radicals oppose all these projects, and tell these destitute people they should be happy with little solar panels on their huts. Now and for generations to come.

Across Africa, malaria kills 2 million people every year, half of them children. Over 250 million more get this horrible disease and are unable to work for weeks or months on end, costing their countries $12 billion annually. Malaria also threatens Asia and Latin America.

DDT and other pesticides, used in tiny amounts, can slash malaria rates and deaths by 80% or more. But Greenpeace absolutely opposes this and pressures the European Union to ban fish and agricultural exports (including tobacco!) from any African nation that uses DDT. Even the liberal New York Times says “wealthy nations should be helping poor countries with all available means – including DDT.” But the callous eco-radicals refuse to budge.

In southern Africa, 14 million people are starving. Desperate to survive another day, they hunt down and cook anything that swims, runs, crawls or flies. Biotechnology could save lives and preserve wildlife and habitats, by enabling farmers to grow more food on less land.

But well-fed eco-fanatics shriek “Frankenfoods” and “genetic pollution.” They threaten sanctions on nations that dare to grow genetically modified crops, to feed their people or replace crops that have been wiped out by insects and blights. They plan to spend $175 million battling biotech foods over the next five years. Not one dime of this will go to the starving poor, and even Greenpeace co-founder Dr. Patrick Moore is disgusted that the organization he once led “puts unfounded fear-mongering ahead of the world’s poor.” But the zealots are unmoved.

Other chemicals are just as important as pesticides for saving lives. Without chlorine, for example, water purification becomes almost impossible. But radical greens are also trying to eliminate chlorine and pressure developing countries not to use it. “In 1991, they managed to persuade Peruvian authorities to stop chlorinating the nation’s drinking water,” Innis pointed out, “and a cholera epidemic infected half a million people and killed 4,700. The radicals’ priorities are completely upside down. And now they want to impose the same lethal policies here in the United States.”

[JT]

I am against killing of animals, how about we go bug the hell out of the ranchers killing cows?
Why is it that we see nobody go after the iceland killing of whales and dolphins?
Go through the system and stop whaling legally but that would not make a good TV show!!

[Robert Rivers]

"no human is better than a whale or any creature. "

The life of 100 whales are not worth the a single hair on the head of a human child.

[Bob]

So they throw acid at the whale ships hoping to ruin the whale meat...won't that make the Japanese fleet NEED to kill more whales to replace the ruined meat? Not to mention their tactics get more and more advanced. Sooner or later one side is just going to break out a gun in the name of self-defense. I can't wait for that episode.

[Jim]

What is more important the Life of a Human or the life of a Whale. Life of humans is an issue that has caused great debates over the last 50 yrs. The Right For Life and other religous groups have marched and picketed Abortion Offices for years without incident. But you only hear of a few radical cases whre some "nutt job" burns down a clinic. And now all the Right For Lifers are labeled " Haters, Racist" etc. . But then you get this guy who has a ship and is ready to Kill or harm any Jappenese Whalers who don't agree with his opinion and he is called a Hero and given a T.V. show. All he teaches is if somone diagrees with you, you have the right to Kill or Harm them. Sounds alot like radical Islam to me??????

[kamuela]

I'm against commercial whaling regardless I'm surprized Japan hasn't sank any of Sea Shepards vessels yet, some of Sea Sherpards tactics can be articulated as Piracy.

[no name]

its funny reading some peoples comments...about human lives at risk just for whales. first of all these humans CHOOSE to put their lives at risk, no one made them do it. second whales are vital to the ecosystem, so no human is better than a whale or any creature.

[Thomas Straub]

The Seasheperd people are the most inept sailors I have ever seen. Moron # 1 (Pete Bethune) untimately causes the destruction of a multi-million dollar hi speed boat because he didn't refuel, which meant they couldn't run from the Japanese ship that cut it in half, and also completely left his crew in jeopardy. Moron # 2 (a crew member from the Ady Gil, the aforementioned hi speed boat) threatens the Captain of the Bob Barker because he would not jeopardize the mission and take him back to shore so he could go home. Why wasn't this man locked up? Moron # 3 Chuck Swift, Captain of the Bob Barker decides to run straight into a storm to ensure a Japanese ship would not see them and begin tailing them. Do any of these jerks care about the safety of their crews? Also in rough weather both ships put their small boats in the water (Why?) and one drifted away overnight. The next day they retrieved it close to shore and instead of pushing it (a rubber boat) out further off the rocks, Moron # 4 started it up on the rocks and completely destroyed the prop. Are u kidding me??? All of these stupid incidents preclude this group from carrying out their mission, which is to prevent the Japanese whaling ships from catching whales. So far, they have done nothing of the kind, because they are too busy dealing with their ineptitude. From what I can see, the Japanese have nothing to worry about.What really irks me, having been on a real U.S. Naval ship for 3 years, is that so far, there appears to be absolutely no consequences for these clowns.

[armodon]

ramming ships, throwing acid (non lethal btw), illegally boarding, interfering with search and rescue, destroying property (cutting nets, tangling propellers), and sinking of ships docked in harbors, how are these people not in jail? their cause might be righteous but their behavior cannot be condoned. then again you can argue that japan is in the wrong too. i mean how dare they kidnap (capture) sea shepard crew members (after they illegally boarded a japanese ship) and shooting captain watson in the chest is completely uncalled for (even if discovery said it never actually happened)

[armodon]

icw only allows a certain number of killings a year. the number is about 0.1% of the total estimated population. most agree that the population most whales increases by about 1.44% over a year, and thats by the lowest estimate. some populations may be growing by about 14%. so given those numbers, i dont think the japanese are going to wipe out the whales. also, since japan in part of the icw, are actually allowed to conduct the hunts, and do submit their research papers, i dont think you can really call what theyre doing illegal. its not like japan kills every whale it sees. they also do nonlethal research, but you can only learn so much by looking at a whale and taking blood samples. japan does sell the whale meat, which i dont think they ever denied, but it is illegal to waste any part of the whale killed in the name of research. this money is used entirely to fund the research, which still isnt enough, so the japanese goverment pays the rest.

[Steve White]

Pirates should be hung!

[dean]

These Anti-Whaling clowns need to ALL be arrested. Why does the Austrailian govt put up with these pirates. They should be put on trial and jailed for life for their dangerous actions. If you oppose whaling do it non-violently. Go to Japan, norway, or other countries and protest. Killing people at sea and damaging property is not the right sloution. Animal planet needs to drop these terrorists from their programming.

[Kelley]

So a country that routinely kills pregnant whales,juvenile whales, mothers who are nursing calves is complaining about violence against it? I think this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

[nate]

How about saving the lives of humans that are being needlessly ended? These people are spineless hippies that need to get real jobs for Gods sakes!! Go to Africa and stop the extreme violence that gets ignored every day by the world if youre such hard asses!

[Lisa]

I am opposed to whaling, but the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is an eco-terrorism group. They are a farce and their representatives are arrogant, ignorant, and violent. "Whale Wars" is a degrading TV show and should be canceled.

Please see below:

SEA SHEPHERD’S VIOLENT HISTORY
1977: Founding member of Greenpeace, Paul Watson, expelled from the organisation after a campaign against sealing during which he threw the sealers’ clubs and skins into the sea.
1977: Watson establishes Sea Shepherd organisation. States that Sea Shepherd is not a protest organization. “We are [a] self-appointed policing organization given credibility by the terms of the United Nations Earth Charter of 1982.”
1978: Watson admits to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) programme As It Happens that his work is aimed at raising funds for his organisation, Sea Shepherd.
Watson: “You see, the seal is very easy to exploit as an image. We have posters, we have buttons; we have shirts ... all of which portray the head of the baby seal with tears coming out of its eyes. Baby seals are always crying because the salt tears keep their eyes from freezing. But they have this image of ... they are baby animals; they are beautiful. And because of that, coupled with the horror of the sealer hitting them over the head with a club, it is an image which just goes right to the heart of animal lovers all over North America.”
1979: A Sea Shepherd vessel rams the whaling vessel “Sierra”, causing considerable damage. “Sierra” survives attack.
1980: The IWC at its meeting in Brighton, United Kingdom, assigns high-level protection to two Canadian Government delegates after Watson threatened to kill them for voting against a moratorium on sperm whales. Delegates given Royal Canadian Mounted Police protection until their return home to Canada.
1980: The “Sierra” is sunk in Lisbon harbour. Sea Shepherd claims responsibility. Investigation shows limpet mines used to blow up the vessel.
1981: Sea Shepherd claims responsibility for the sinking of the two whaling vessels, Ibsa I and Ibsa II, in the Spanish harbour of Viga.
1983: Paul Watson and “Sea Shepherd” vessel engineer Paul Pezwick, tried and convicted in a Quebec, Canada, court for “interfering in the annual seal hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence”. Trial followed arrest in March 1983 when “Sea Shepherd” vessel boarded by Canadian police. “Sea Shepherd” fortified including electric barbed wire around the deck’s edges. Seventeen crew arrested. Watson and three others flee across ice to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, but caught and arrested. Watson charged additionally with piloting a ship in a dangerous manner, intimidation of the sealers and being unlawfully within a half mile of the seal hunt – a violation of the Seal Protection Regulations. Watson sentenced to 15 months imprisonment.
1983: In retaliation for Watson’s arrest by Canadian police, animal rights extremists slash car tires and spray paint slogans on walls of buildings in the inner city of Quebec. “Fisheries Murder Seals” and “Set Paul Watson Free” slogans spray painted on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans offices in Keele Street. Animal Liberation Front delivers letter to the Quebec Star newspaper admitting causing several thousand dollars worth of damage to the Department’s Keele Street offices.1986: Sea Shepherd attempts to stop Faroe Islands pilot whale harvest. Using rifles, Sea Shepherd activists shoot at Faroe Islands police in an attempt to sink their rubber dinghies. The vessel “Sea Shepherd” was ordered to leave Faroese territorial waters. The police report of 7 October 1986 states: “One of the rubber dinghies was attacked directly by a “Speed Line” line rifle. The attack ... endangered the lives of the police crewmembers ... and signal flares containing phosphorous was thrown at the police. At a later stage the Sea Shepherd used “toads” (rotating iron spikes, pointed and sharp at both ends) against the rubber dinghies ... petrol was poured over the side of the ship and signal flares were thrown from the “Sea Shepherd” in an attempt to set the petrol on fire.”
1986: Sea Shepherd claims responsibility for the sinking of two whaling vessels in Reykjavik, Iceland, and for malicious damage to a whaling station. (This act of violence was carried out after Iceland stopped whaling in line with the IWC moratorium on commercial whaling.) Attack carried out by Sea Shepherd members Rodney A. Coronado and David Howitt. (Coronado linked to Animal Liberation Front and arrested eight years later by United States FBI for his part in an ALF attack on Michigan State University research laboratory. Charges included use of an explosive device, theft and arson.)
1988: Paul Watson returns in Iceland demanding to be held responsible for the sinking of the whaling vessels in Reykjavik in 1986. (He is arrested and held for questioning and told he could face several years’ imprisonment. In a press release, the Icelandic Ministry of Justice stated: “At questioning, Paul Watson has admitted that he has given some remarks that connect him with the sabotage, but in spite of this he now claims that he neither took part in the planning nor the execution of the sabotage.”) There was no evidence incriminating Watson. He was ordered to leave the country and declared persona non grata in Iceland.
1991: A US crew member on a Mexican fishing vessel, reports that Sea Shepherd, some of whose crew were armed with rifles, rammed his vessel causing considerable damage.
1991: Scott Trimmingham, president of Sea Shepherd quits in protest. “We had rules about not hurting anyone, about not using weapons. I left because those rules and that philosophy seems to be changing.” Outside magazine (Sept. 1991). Paul Watson admits there are arms on board “Sea Shepherd”. “We confront dangerous people. As the captain, it is my responsibility to protect the lives of my crew ... Therefore, I have prepared myself for the possibility of defending my crew in a situation that could go never occur, but if it does I will use firearms to first intimidate and then to defend,” Watson tells the Los Angeles Free Weekly (April 24, 1992).
1992: Sea Shepherd makes unsuccessful attempts at ramming three Costa Rican fishing vessels. In a written complaint to the local authorities the fishermen report that the Sea Shepherd crew shot at them with bullets containing a red substance, hitting two of them and causing them great pain.
1992: Sea Shepherd makes unsuccessful attempt at scuttling the whaling and fishing vessel “Nybræna” at her moorings in the Lofoten Islands, northern Norway. Attack committed by Paul Watson, girlfriend Lisa DiStefano and one other Sea Shepherd member. Watson later states: “The scuttling of the Nybræna was not a terrorist or criminal act. We were responsible for removing an instrument of death and destruction without causing death or injury.” Charges laid against Watson, who fails to turn up in court. Watson convicted in absentia and sentenced to 120 days in prison.
1992: Sea Shepherd vessel “Whales Forever” collides with Norwegian Coast Guard vessel “Andenes” on July 4. Charges against Paul Watson include negligent navigation, refusal to leave
Norwegian waters on orders of the Coast Guard and transmitting false distress signals. (Tape supplied)
1993: Paul Watson orders the crew on board the Sea Shepherd vessel “Edward Abbey” (formerly US Navy) to open cannon fire at a Japanese fishing vessel. Sea Shepherd crew do not carry out the order, but instead fire a shot across the bow of the Japanese vessel. The Japanese vessel does not stop. (Recorded by Yorkshire Television Documentary “Defenders of the Wild – Ocean Rider”.)
1993: Paul Watson claims in an open letter to the people of Norway that Sea Shepherd has sunk eight ships and rammed and damaged a further six vessels. In the same letter, he states: “The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is a law abiding organization. We rigidly adhere to and respect the laws of nature or lex natura. We hold the position that the laws of ecology take precedence over the laws designed by nation states to protect corporate interests ... the smell of guilt is already a stench in the nostrils of God.”
1993: Federal Grand Jury in Michigan State hands down five-count indictment against Coronado for illegal use of explosives, extortion, threats to interfere with interstate commerce and interstate transportation, to commit arson, theft and destruction of government property and for receiving stolen property. Indictments stem from February 1992 fire-bombing of Michigan State University in East Lancing. Coronado involved in sinking two whaling vessels in Iceland in 1986.
1994: Sea Shepherd claims responsibility for the unsuccessful attempt at scuttling the combined minke whaling and fishing vessel “Senet” at her moorings in Gressvik. The vessel was salvaged, but the water had caused considerable damage. Paul Watson tells Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet on January 26 that former US navy “Seal” commandos took part in attack on the Senet. “Certainly these men are trained to kill, but they are also well disciplined and respect my orders,” he told the newspaper.
1994: Sea Shepherd loses observer status at the International Whaling Commission. IWC Secretary, Ray Gambell, declares that the IWC and all its member states ardently condemn Sea Shepherd’s acts of terrorism.
1994: US National Fisheries Institute asks for investigation into Sea Shepherd. “The recent alleged actions against Norwegian fishing vessels constitute a clear case of piracy,” it says in a letter to former US IWC Commissioner James Baker. “Acts of violence against fishermen of any nation cannot be tolerated. Their safety and livelihood could be threatened unless US officials vigorously condemn violence on the high seas.”
1997: Paul Watson arrested at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, Netherlands, for the 1992 attempted scuttling of the Norwegian combined whaling and fishing vessel “Nybræna”. Arrested by Dutch police after Interpol issues warrant. Serves 80 days in prison in the Netherlands, the equivalent of the necessary two-thirds of the 120-day prison sentence handed down by Norway.
2000: Watson campaigns against the Makah people of Northwest United States. He uses intimidation to prevent the Makah from carrying out their IWC approved catch of the gray whale.
2002: Watson tells Animal Rights 2002 Conference in Washington DC that if a person dies from one of his actions, he would consider it “collateral damage”. He believes it is not possible to “commit violence against non-sentient objects. Property damage is not violence.”

[Duran]

They are terrorists and should be imprisoned! Any group that will use force, fear and threats to impose their way of thinking should be treated the same. There is a room in Cuba for them.

[Hakio Hatoyama]

Personally I think the use of the term "terrorists" is over used. It kind of reminds me of the red scare. Any body else see a comparison with using the term Communists in order to rally support for a cause, with using the term terrorist? The Japanese Whalers are just trying to play on peoples phobias of terrorism in order to rally support against Sea Shepherd. And if you think about it, the arguement of "cultural right" doesn't make sense, since when have the Japanese hunted in the Antartic for traditional purposes...last I checked their ancestors all hunted whales INSIDE their area/territory.