Whale war subsides as Sea Shepherd leaves Japanese fleet, heads home

It was fun while it lasted, wasn't it?

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's effort to harass and minimize Japan's whale hunt in the Antarctic has come to an end, as the activists have exhausted their fuel and drained their resources.

But it was an entertaining month-long, two-part episode. Tales of hurling rotten butter at the savage whale killers, if that's how you regard them. Blasting water cannons at the criminal eco-terrorists, if that's how you regard the activists.

There were vessel collisions, and the Japanese even lost a crewman overboard in a nonrelated incident.

Now Sea Shepherd's vessel, the Steve Irwin, is leaving antarctic waters and leaving the whalers to hunt minkes unopposed.

But Capt. Paul Watson boasts of having shut down whaling operations for one month and promises an even greater disruption effort next year, with a larger, faster vessel.

"We need to block those deadly harpoons, and we need to outrun these hunter killer ships and to do that, I need a ship that is as fast as they are, and I intend to get one and I intend to return next year," Watson said. "We will never stop intervening against their illegal whaling operations, and we will never stop harassing them, blockading them and costing them money.

"I intend to be their ongoing nightmare every year until they stop their horrific and unlawful slaughter of the great whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary."

And there are many who'll be pulling for Watson, just as some will be critical of the way he conducts business on the high seas. One thing's for sure, it's a compelling story.

-- Pete Thomas

Top photo: Sea Shepherd crew in an inflatable boat harass Japanese factory whaling ship, the Nisshin Maru. Credit: Josh Gunn / Sea Shepherd

Bottom photo: Japanese whalers respond to exploding bottles of rotten butter, hurled by Sea Shepherd crew members from vessel Steve Irwin. Credit: Adam Lau / Sea Shepherd

Comments

[Penelope]

Captain Paul Watson does not boast,he does not need to because his actions speak for themselves. The violence in Antartica is soley on the Japanese side starting with the bloody illegal slaughter of endangered whales and the shocking methods that were used against the protesters this year. Why Governments and Greenpeace are so afraid to confront the Japanese can only be explained by their mighty economic power!

[Fred]

A little detail here: Members of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) are throwing bottles of Butyric acid.

Here is the Material Safety Data Sheet(MSDS) for Butyric acid
http://www.sciencelab.com/xMSDS-Butyric_acid-9923216

Butyric acid is hazardous (it can burn your skin and eyes), corrosive (it can eat into the metals, but not so reactive) and combustible chemical (please note that Japanese crewman lost his life by fire in 2007 on the mother ship Nisshin Maru).

SSCS may be making the acid from the rotten butter (After looking at photos and videos from the both sides, I doubt it though. It is much easier to buy the acid like that), but I have a big problem calling the acid as just “rotten butter”.

I did NOT find the show funny at all. SSCS has been risking human lives on Antarctic waters. If SSCS returns with a larger ship, most likely someone will be killed.

P.S. first aid for Butyric acid from MSDS

Eye Contact:
Check for and remove any contact lenses. In case of contact, immediately flush eyes with plenty of water for at least 15 minutes. Cold water may be used. Get medical attention.

Skin Contact:
In case of contact, immediately flush skin with plenty of water for at least 15 minutes while removing contaminated clothing and shoes. Cover the irritated skin with an emollient. Cold water may be used. Wash clothing before reuse. Thoroughly clean shoes before reuse. Get medical attention immediately.

Serious Skin Contact:
Wash with a disinfectant soap and cover the contaminated skin with an anti-bacterial cream. Seek immediate medical attention.

Inhalation:
If inhaled, remove to fresh air. If not breathing, give artificial respiration. If breathing is difficult, give oxygen. Get medical attention.

Serious Inhalation:
Evacuate the victim to a safe area as soon as possible. Loosen tight clothing such as a collar, tie, belt or waistband. If breathing is difficult, administer oxygen. If the victim is not breathing, perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

WARNING: It may be hazardous to the person providing aid to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation when the inhaled material is toxic, infectious or corrosive. Seek immediate medical attention.

[watshg]

japanese are cruel to beatiful wildlife

[Brian]

I will not be deceived into believing Butyric acid is "rotten butter". Butyric acid *can* be produced from rotting butter, but not in the strength that would make the ambient air hard to breathe and sting my eyes - normally, it simply smells bad. I would also find it hard to believe that Watson buys butter to rot it in the hull of his ship; he's probably buying lab-grade Butyric in a barrel because it's cheaper. He's just telling us it's "rotten butter" to ward off the stigma of chemical-burn molotov cocktails. BTW - Butyric acid is flammable at around 2-10% airborne concentrations. Not a problem except its vapor is heavier than air, and tends to settle into the holds of the ships.

It's not the *type* of acid that makes it "harmless" - it's the *concentration*. Stomach acid is 1% Hydrochloric acid, and vomit (although disgusting) is harmless to the touch. The FAA tested a 747 with 38% strength Hydrochloric. It burned a hole through the fuselage skin in 47 minutes ( http://www.tc.faa.gov/its/worldpac/techrpt/artn97-108.pdf ).

Setting aside the idea of acid percentages, if I threw a bottle of 75% Hydrochloric and said "it's the same acid you find in vomit", would it be as believable as Watson's "it's the same acid produced from rotting butter" description of Butyric?

What's the percentage of acid in his bottles? The very fact that they throw (glass) bottles rather than use a high-pressure water cannon to hose the deck tells me that it's concentrated enough that no one on the ship wants to risk any sprayback. Sooner or later, someone will get seriously hurt or blinded from this junk, and that's (hopefully) something that is not intended.

If Watson is going to throw stuff onto the whalers' decks, he should set aside the smooth talk and simply use tear gas. But, if he did that, I guess he wouldn't look as heroic on camera.

[Anakinu]

What's so "evil" about whaling?

It definitely doesn't look like japanese whaling industry is over-fishing whales like the Europeans and Americans did when whaling was an essential part of the western economy.

To me, if whales can be harvested in a sustainable manner, I'm OK with it. If "research" is needed to assertain what level of commercial whaling can be sustainable (i believe that's what japanese mean when they say "research" which I also think is consistent with IWC's original intention.) If you think "research" only means publishing papers in scientific journals, I guess it's waste of time to convince you otherwise.

I'd be interested to know though, on average how many people in the US actually care about this. (that is having a strong opinion one way or the other)

With all of that said, I guess I don't really care whether they ban or continue whaling. It would be sad though, if whales actually go extinct (or any species for that matter, intelligent or not)

Sorry for the random rant. Have fun :)

[BobM]

So after burning up two tanks of fossil fuel in the high seas, Sea Shepherd has enough footage for another season of Whale Wars, and decides to go home. New season of the show should get enough gullible people out there to donate enough money so he can burn through a few more tanks of fossil fuel in the next few years.
With Watson leaving, the whales are screwed for the rest of this whaling season. I guess I'll be enjoying whale meat in the sushi bars on my next trip to Japan this year.

[Mike]

Throwing any substance into any waters, not least Antarctic waters, is banned! So, the crew of the Steve Irwin appear t be breaking one law in order to uphold another.

[Brett Colville]

I feel strongly opposed to what the Japanese are doing, and saddened that the only people who are trying to stop them are Sea Shepherd.
Good luck to the crew of the Steve Irwin, and rotten tomatoes to all those governments who sat around and did nothing.
I'll continue to support SS until there is a better alternative. Right now, they're the only people who actually make a difference to the number of whales being killed.

[Andre from Sacto]

There seems to be some concern from poacher lovers that the bad guys might get hurt from the 'acid' trip.

Lemme tell you from first hand experience aboard a SSCS campaign. All butyric acid does is stink. Aboard the Farley Mowat a bottle had broken and it stank up half the ship. The people who handled it got it on themselves. Even Cap'n Watson got some on his self. It was smelly but we all had a good laugh and nobody had their skin eaten off. The stink bombs as used for anti-whaling operations are intended to foul up the whale meat making it unsellable.

So if a bunch of animal conservationist are tough enough for the stink bombs then it is perfectly good for poachers.

To those who claim that the SSCS are just doing this for the ratings I would like to remind you that the SSCS has been doing this for years. Long before it became cool.

For a good background on the SSCS look up Mr. Watson first anti-whaling campaign against the Soviet Union's whaling stations back in the early 1980's.

[Sam]

In a post by Fred, he claims the following;

"Butyric acid is...combustible... (... Japanese crewman lost his life by fire in 2007 on the mother ship Nisshin Maru)."

For Fred to make this association by suggesting that Butyric acid caused the fire on board the Nisshin Maru, is an outright lie! the Japanese have stated that this fire had nothing to do with any confrontation! Pure lies!

"Butyric acid is hazardous (it can burn your skin and eyes)..."

Its a skin irritant Fred, get over it!

"SSCS may be making the acid from the rotten butter (After looking at photos and videos from the both sides, I doubt it though. It is much easier to buy the acid like that), but I have a big problem calling the acid as just “rotten butter”.

Fred, you actually don't know anything factual, you just keep assuming. Can I have a crystal ball like yours?

Fred continues; "I did NOT find the show funny at all. SSCS has been risking human lives on Antarctic waters. If SSCS returns with a larger ship, most likely someone will be killed."

Hey Fred I think you missed the point of the documentary, it's NOT supposed to be funny!
Also, Captain Watson said he was getting a FASTER ship, NOT a larger one! And I guess we could all assume that someone "most likely" will die on Southern Cal freeways this week! Thanks for a look into your crystal ball!

[Sam]

FACT:

7,000,000,000 (7 BILLION) Humans on planet Earth.

A few hundred to a few hundred thousand whale (depending on species).

Game over. Humans win, Earth loses!

Humans are self-important, we are PART of life on the planet, we are OF the planet, and we do NOT own the right to destroy anything that we want just because we want!

Grow UP! Only children demand their toys and cookies right now without thinking of the ultimate ramifications of their actions. "I want it NOW! "

We are CARETAKERS of the earth if we are anything. We need to protect what is wild because whatever created this planet sure as hell didn't put US on here to destroy it all!

Non-caring humans GET A LIFE!
For the MAJORITY of us humans that CARE, congratulations!

ps. by-the-way, there is a good chance that those commenting on this story are Japanese whaling proponents trying to influence the influence-able.

[Fred]

To Brian | February 09, 2009 at 10:13 PM
Brian, thank you for the info.

To Sam | February 10, 2009 at 01:03 PM

Sam, you can get a Saruman’s crystal ball on eBay for less than $30. BTW, eBay does not sell the Nisshinmaru accident report 2007, the stink bomb, or the rotten butter and it’s MSDS.

I had enough Sarcasm here, so let’s put a period here.

I understand that Mr. Watson is doing his business in Antarctica waters because he believes that Minke whales are endangered.

Now, key question is how many Minke whales are out there?

I could not find the number on Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) websites, so please let me know the URL when you find one.

The estimates of Minke whales vary between, 510,000 -760,000 in Southern hemisphere according to International Whaling Commission (IWC) and other sources.

IWC sets the number of samples for the Scientific whaling to be around 0.1% of the total population and the annual increase of the whale population is greater according to the Institute for Cetacean Research (ICR).

As Milke B. commented on Pete’s previous post on Feb6,2009, The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) does not consider Minke whales are threatened.

SSCS needs to show solid scientific data that supports it’s opinion in order to convince people, not questionable behaviors.

P.S. About the comments on Pete‘s “Whale war between Japan and Sea Shepherd becomes increasingly confrontational Feb6,2009 ”, I found it quite interesting. I wish I can witness more discussion between SSCS members and Japanese people. It will give me more insights for sure.

[Jonathan]

Captain Paul Watson and his crew are eco-HEROES who are putting their lives on the line to end this barbaric practice and uphold the law. The Japanese are commercial whaling under the guise of research which is ILLEGAL. You think they're sending that huge fleet down there and spending millions just for research? As long as Sea Shepherd keeps harassing these criminals, I will be right there to support them.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you Sea Shepherd.

[dan]

thank god i live in Canada....clearly most of you Americans support terrorists as much as the iraqis you pretend to hate. I hope you are all negetarians who hate america...and if so why dont you hop on board paul watsons little self indulgent world called the sea shepherd...if you would die for a whale then the world is happy not to have you...7 billion more where they come from and we can all enjoy a little whale sushi!

[Kev]

Let me guess Dan.
Your one of those kind hearted animal loving canadians that can only make a living by doing the governments dirty work by bashing the heads defenseless seals with clubs (or shovels, as per the recent conviction of a sealer) just so you can over fish the seas and then blame the seal population for the loss of this (apparently, expendable resource), and if you are not a sealer then I assume you sympathise with the sealers and are just sore, as the SSCS not only care about the whales so far from your native home, but also the seals that are on your doorstep, where they are also involved with the defense of species.
So, will you be wearing some 'fashionable' clothes items made from freshly bludgeoned seal pups while you enjoy your whale sushi?

[Cheryl Murkin]

MSDS are prepared for workers involved in industry and laboratories who have regular contact with industrial strength chemicals typically in an enclosed environment with little ventilation. In the open sea with a good stiff breeze or ocean winds butter acid will at best cause minor skin and eye irritation. Please refrain from over dramatising Sea Shepherds use of stink bombs and inference that Sea Shepherd caused the fire onboard the Nisshin Maru. The whalers are just crying 'victim' and 'acid' as they do not like the fact that they are losing money through the inability to butcher whales for days due to the awful stench, and contamination of whale meat rendering it unsuitable for sale.

Among numerous other violations of international conservation law relating to Antarctica, and whales, including Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species, the whaling fleet are in further violation of the Antarctic Treaty by refuelling ship to ship in the Antarctic whale sanctuary, and dumping of blood and offal. Read the Madrid Protocol and it's Annexes (Antarctic Treaty) for more violations.

[Anakinu]

I thought maybe a voice from Japanese person might be interesting to you online posters. This is my take on the whole situation of whaling / anti-whaling conflict.

Most Japanese people are (or were) indifferent about whether society / government endorses whaling. If anything, till recently, most people were starting to sympathize with conservationists due to the increasing awareness of environmentalism.

But with extreme activists like Sea Shepherd being on the scene, this trend is starting to truly reverse. Many Japanese people are offended by the actions of and remarks made by Sea Shepherd (understandably. if you don't understand it, try putting yourself in their shoe. if you still don't understand it, then you have no hope, sorry) Those who were neutral on the issue now support whaling with a newly born sense of national pride. Even those who were starting to support anti-whaling is being drawn back to supporting whaling only because they are so offended.

*From here, it's just my speculation, so read it for your entertainment only*

Sea Shepherd definitely did a great job re-vitalizing a dying industry by provoking national pride in the heart of many Japanese people. Good Job. Now, this "whale war" will continue on. Japanese government will have easier time spending Japanese tax payers money on whale industry to keep this "research" going for a long long time. In the wake of extreme economy crisis, this industry probably would have not survived in Japan, but now it will continue on, thanks to the great effort of sea shepherd "conservation" effort.

Enough sarcasm,

Anyways,

Just like my earlier post said, my position is pretty clear. Whaling is OK as long as it's sustainable. And if "research" is needed to assertain the impact of controlled whaling, so be it.

It's almost like converting someone into a new religion... you can't use force, you can't use torture, and you definitely can not throw butyric acid at their face.

On another side note, it would be pretty funny if Paul Watson took a bath in butyric acid to prove how harmless it is. They should totally do that and air it on whale wars. It would be very convicing that they are using "safe" but aggressive means of protest. One more suggestion is, since Japanese whalers (and many others) think butyric acid is harmful not only to humans but also to marine ecosystem, Sea Shepherd should stop using it and switch to throwing human waste and air it on whale wars. I can promise you, if they did that, no Japanese person will ever want to eat whale meat. Just a tip.

Peace :)

[Robert A LeVangie]

I was engineer mechanic through 20,000 miles of often rough seas in defense of the marine habitat not because it was fun but because I thought it necessary to see this planet go on with some semblance of biodiversity. I believe in the captain and trust his judgement as the one person who is most dedicated to saving whales and has single handedly done more for whales and dolphins than anyone on this planet. We're aware there will always be nay sayers, dock side opinionators who are entitled to their opinions but I bet most never spent as much time on a ship as us and have seen so many thousands of miles of dead sea. I have to question people against our actions as maybe just simply excusing their own inaction somehow and want here to ask if they still think denial is still just a river.

[Let the whales live-M]

The destruction of the whale population in the southern oceans is absurd--I do not agree with commercial whaling and I am one of those gullible people who will make a donation to stop the whaling--I find the dispatch of a paramilitary vessel (Taiyo Maru #38) by the Japanese government to directly engage the Steve Irwin as a reminder that Japan still has the potential for militarism as it did a century ago regardless of a pacificistic constitution--I hope that Japan will allow the whales to live in peace and find more worthwhile activities to pursue--The scientific research gained by killing whales is practically nil, but people are making a profit from the whale meat served in restaurants and bars---Allow the whales to recover to pre-whaling populations--imagine the planet without a blue whale or even a minke whale--a sad day!

[Anakinu]

Let the whales live-M,
I think your comment about Japanese millitarism is absurd. I don't think I have explain why. Also, what was the pre-whaling whale population? And how far away are we from it? Are you saying once the population recovers, sustainable whaling will be acceptable?

Thanks

Robert A LeVangie,
I don't think people are in denial as you say. I think people just don't care enough about it, as harsh a reality it might be for you. Majority of the population in the world (in the US for that matter) is still human-centric, for a very good reason. There's just too much human suffering and struggle that saving animal is not a priority for many people. This is not to say that we should discredit those who selflessly devote themselves to the cause. But with the same token, you shouldn't either.

Just a general advise. as an anti-whaling activist, be more political in what you say. you need Japanese people's support. Japan has a deep pocket. With Japanese people supporting whaling only because they are offended, a few hundred less whales per year won't matter. The japanese government will keep fueling the industry until they completely lose Japanese people's support. Look at Australia and any other anti-whaling European nations, they all were pro-whaling at one point (in a very recent history).

Peace

[Paul Whatson]

Paul Watson and his crazy cult ran like cowards after challenging the Japanese to "arrest him if they thought he was a terrorist or shut up". They called his bluff and he ran like a sissy straight into a search and seziure warrant served by the AFP. Canada just announced it is looking for a buyer for the former SSCS flagship Farley Mowat it confiscated last year and two of Watson's main stooges are due for a trial on April 27th on charges that could bring a $100,000fine and one year in jail. Australia may have to confiscate the Steve Irwin and sell it too because Watson is known to skip out on government imposed financial obligations. If that is the case the Sealers could buy the Farley Mowat and use it as a temporary seal pelt storage area and a Japanese Whale restaurant could buy the Steve Irwin as a floating sushi bar.

[Carl]

It may seem that few people care about the whales. I think most people, like myself, didn't realize that whaling was still going on. Had it not been for "Whale Wars", I would not have known. Now that I know, I'm avoiding Japanese products whenever possible.
It's despicable, not to mention illegal, that Japanese are exploiting whales purely for greed. There is no research being done. God bless the Sea Shepherds.

[david macdougall]

everone how thinks whaling still a place in this century is missing more then a few marbels. the japanese say they need to kill 900 whales for research? the show whale wars showed me that once agian mankin just loves to kill anything.

[Travis Soper]

Has anyone asked the japanese to produce the research results? I want proof that the whalers are indeed doing something other than killing whales for meat consumption. I want to see evidence!

[CAPT. BRUCE]

MY SON AND I [HE IS 12] JUST FINISHED WATCHING THE LATEST EPISODES OF WHALE WARS AND I MUST SAY I HAVE NEVER WITNESSED A MORE INEPT AND ILL TRAINED CREW ON ANY VESSEL THAT I EITHER SERVED ON OR CAPTAINED. THEY ARE TRULY A DANGER TO THEMSELVES AND ANYONE ELSE AT SEA. AS FOR MY SON, HE POINTED OUT DOZENS OF MISTAKES ON THE PART OF THE CREW[?] NOT THE LEAST OF WHICH WAS THE LAUNCHING OF THE DELTA[ COMICAL SINCE NO LIVES WERE LOST] FOLLOWED BY THE ABSURD COMMENT FROM THE CAPTAIN THAT THEY ALMOST THE DELTA WITH NO MENTION OF ALL HANDS GOING IN THE WATER . THANK GOD THEY PLY WATERS WERE THERE ARE FEW OTHER VESSELS.