Sea Shepherd crew being watched closely by Japanese whale hunters

Capt. Paul Watson and his Sea Shepherd Conservation Society crew are only three days into their mission to locate the Japanese whaling fleet and disrupt its annual Antarctic region hunt, and they themselves have been located and are being watched.

Watson reported that an unidentified aircraft -- a possible spotter plane -- had circled the Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin and that a white harpoon vessel began following the Steve Irwin from just beyond Australia's 200-mile boundary.

Watson changed course several times, and each time, he said, the harpoon vessel followed suit. “It looks like we have an escort to Antarctica,” Watson said on the group's website.

Watson added that he believed the fleet of whaling ships was accompanied this year by a security force. If that's true, this season's installment of Animal Planet's popular "Whale Wars" series could be the most dramatic yet.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: Paul Watson. Credit: Adam Lau / Sea Shepherd

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Comments

[simsung]

This is unbelievable:

Japan's whaling fleet has been expanded to four harpooning vessels (Yushin Maru 2, Yushin Maru 3, Shonan Maru, Shonan Maru 2), a factory ship (Nissin Maru), a supply ship, a spotting vessel and two "security vessels". No doubt the refuelling vessel (Oriental bluebird) will come down mid-season to refuel the ships and take some of the meat. They used a spotter plane to find the Steve Irwin.

The Japanese are expected to hunt in Australian Antarctic Territory waters this summer (a declared whale sanctuary).

This must be costing millions of tax payers dollars. Millions and millions. No cutbacks because of the GFC? All for what? Some face saving for a dying industry where there is zero demand. Unbelievable.

[thorn in your side]

"Japanese taxpayers money is being squandered on life-support for a whaling programme that produces virtually nothing of value," said Jun Hoshikawa, executive director of Greenpeace Japan.

"With well over 9,000 minke whales killed in 22 years and no useful data produced, Japan's so-called 'research' in the Antarctic is an international embarrassment."

[ChimmyCunga]

"Dozens have been taken inside a whale sanctuary declared off the coast of the Australian Antarctic Territory, and that's where the fleet will hunt again for much of this summer.

Outrageously for those who believe such tasks should really be up to an elected government, the anti-whaling group, Sea Shepherd, can claim to have prevented more kills than the Australian Government. Weeks of whaling have been lost to Sea Shepherd harassment."

[SaveMeSaveYou]

Anyone who says whales are fish are as uneducated as you can get.

[SaveMeSaveYou]

Australia has no agreements with Japan to permit whaling whatsoever. The newly elected govt of Australia has gone soft on the issue (pandering to Tokyo) in the name of trade dollars. Always the way, the almighty dollar comes out on top every time. Environment is second.

Every country pretty much over fishes, there is no denying that. Unfortunately Asia's population is enormouse and growing rapidly that they are running out of fish up there. Boats have to go further and further. Wont be long before its all gone.

Japan's whaling motives just dont make sense. < 1% of population eat whale meat (and its the old timers from WW2 days) who eat it. Remember the USA wiped them out pretty much, and so starving and messed up, whales provided protein etc. This is where whaling in Japan started from. It's not cultural. Their stern defiance is extremely childish. It's good to see one man actually trying to stop them, after all, they are in a whale sanctuary. That is illegal. Not too mention the refuelling and waste dumping.

The french agents who sunk the Rainbow Warrior should be hired to scuttle the fleet in Japan before they leave port.

[SaveMeSaveYou]

It is pretty hard to believe any "data" that the Japanese provide. They will continue to say there is plenty of blue-fin tuna about as well (and we all know they are on the brink of collapse). Just like the horrors of WW2 that Japan "has deleted" from history books.

Greenpeace are more of a profiteering corporation now. THey don't even send ships to the antartic now. That tells me they have given up and its more profitable to not spend the money on the voyage.

If only they were more agressive like Sea Shep. Australia, New Zealand and South American countries have done loads of research on whales. Yes, FIN whales only just scrape into the category of threatened (from endangered). So that's a green light for butchering them is it?

Japan's flotilla of ships (2 Naval / Coast guard escorts as well?) is just an absolute environment disgrace. They dump tons of waste into the ocean down there. They refuel inside the Antartic Exclusion zone and not to mention the butchering of whales in a whale sanctuary. We do not even know if they only take Minke whales. They could be slaughtering all sorts, even endangered whales for all we know. Since they probably under report and cook the books. Remember that DNS testing they did (under cover buyers of various whale meat samples from markets in Japan) ?? They found Blue, Right, Fin, Bow Head, Sperm and Humpback whale species. That says they are harvesting any whale they come across.

They must be stopped.

Condor, where do you get your information from? sounds like you are making it up on the spot. In case you didn't know - humpbacks are endangered. Who's making racist remarks? The whole world is pretty much against Japans whaling. Post something useful. Same goes to you Hideyoshi. Comments about sinking ships? Nice work. The only ships that should be sunk are the Japanese ones. Perhaps an American made H-bomb dropped onto the fleet might look cool on you tube?

[NoNameNeeded]

Go Japan! Paul Watson and his desciples have no right to impose their religion and tell Japanese people (or anyone for that matter) what they should eat. Westerners seem to ignore the fact that WHALES ARE JUST FISH!!! They do not deserve any special recognition that humans have. The whalers outsmarted these eco-terrorists last year and they'll outsmart them again. Looks like they have already.

[Jeff Kaplan]

Give them hell guys I financially sponser you guys each month fly over with the helicopter and drop the burtiac acid like they do in forest fires any nets they have wont stop that.

[confucius]

Yay for security forces... sink the racist SS to the bottom.

[Condor]

Please tell me why the Aussie can kill over 5,000 tons of CRITICATLY ENDANGERED Southern Bluefin Tuna and then make racist hate statements about the Japanese for killing Minke & Humpback Whales that are not even endangered on the IUCN red list of threatened species?

Also, when the Aussie Tuna fishermen kill the 5,000 tons of CRITICATLY ENDANGERED Southern Bluefin Tuna, they feel no remorse or regret they simply blame the Japanese for buying the Tuna to eat. The Aussie's take no blame for killing the Tuna and selling them to Japan for a massive profit which they say is 100% legal export trade. Then the Aussies shift criticism by pretending the Japanese are evil for just buying and eating the Tuna. Why are these Aussie's lying since the Aussie's also eat hundreds of tons of Southern Bluefin Tuna that are CRITICATLY ENDANGERED species. Why are the Japanese evil in their opinion since they just purchased the kill of the Aussie Tuna fishermen?

Why is it that when the Aussie's buy and import tons of Shark Fins that they sell in Aussie restaurants that isn't the same thing as the Japanese buying Tuna that the Aussie kill?

Why are the Japanese that are 100% legal and breaking no laws by killing Abundant Minke Whales for food and doing scientific research considered evil by the same Aussie that kill over 5,000 tons of CRITICATLY ENDANGERED Southern Bluefin Tuna?

Why does Paul Watson need to sail thousands of miles into the Antarctic when he doesn't even care that the Aussie's are killing over 5,000 tons of CRITICATLY ENDANGERED Southern Bluefin Tuna from the Oz ports he just left? It can only be one answer Paul Watson & SSCS hates the Japanese and loves the money the gullible people give him for this fake showboating of saving these Abundant Whales.

[Tula]

The Steve Irwin is a vegan ship so people who normally eat meat, like Paul Watson, go vegan during the campaign. Though I must say reading his inspiring writings on climate change and biodiversity loss one would have thought he was a full time vegan. As for the Japanese, they are illegally poaching endangered species and Sea Shepherd is the only NGO,(forget Greenpeace) actually saving whales.

[Old Salt]

The Australian Government has an agreement with Japan to allow whaling. Its called scientific research. So nothing is going to happen here just like the last forty years. Beside whaling research was completed 30 years ago :-)

[Jess]

Is Paul Watson the heaviest vegetarian in history? Man that guy's chunky! I mean, how much soy can one man eat? Wouldn't suprise me one bit if he has an occasional whale burger or five. 300 pounds a vegan does not make..

[Hideyoshi Toyotomi]

Japan should take a leaf out of the French book of negotiation and give these scum bags the Rainbow Warrior treatment.

Just think of the ratings.

[Danny Heubert]

Hmm, what are the japanese whalers hiding? Maybe they are actually using the whaing operation as a cover for yet more illegal fishing rather than whaling in protected waters. That's the only thing that could explain why the Japanese are so keen to keep whaling and why some of their "research vessels" are converted stern trawlers!

[Jingle Bells]

What sort of cost is this entire whaling operation costing? A lot more than money. Hugely damaging to Japans international image. Huge cost to their credibility. Remember, just recently they were caught exceeding their blue-fin tuna quotas massively and keeping it secret. Moral of the story: You can't trust a word they say. Get out of the Southern Ocean you savages (WWII ring a bell?). what did it take to stop Japan back then??

Enola Gay.visit()