Sea Shepherd crew logs season's first clash with Japanese whalers

A prolonged game of cat-and-mouse between the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and a vessel from the Japanese whaling fleet today turned into the first clash this season between the adversaries, according to the group that is en route to Antarctic waters to try to disrupt the annual whale hunt.

Sea Shepherd posted on its website a short story stating its flagship vessel, Steve Irwin, after several days of being followed by the Shonan Maru 2, emerged from its hiding place behind an iceberg and crews on both vessels engaged in a brief fight with water cannons.

The Japanese harpoon vessel was placed on an evasive course and Capt. Paul Watson of the Steve Irwin kept up a pursuit for two hours before resuming a course toward Antarctica. Watson believes the harpoon vessel has been following the Steve Irwin in order to keep the rest of the whaling fleet aware of its whereabouts. Watson is hoping to use the thicker bergs ahead, and the shelter they provide, to lose the shadow vessel.

"We will use the icebergs and the ice floes to our advantage," Watson said. "I’ve observed today that I am a more experienced ice navigator than the Japanese captain chasing us. We need to get him to follow us into the ice fields and let the ice work for us."

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: Sea Shepherd's anti-whaling vessel, Steve Irwin, with a Japanese whaling ship off its bow. Credit: Barbara Veiga/Sea Shepherd

Comments

[confucius]

Clubbed:
hahaha... okok... sorry if I got to you. I meant it as a sheep (like follow), but I guess I can see how you saw it. And you are really mature for using the F word. hahahaha

Dangermouse:
I don't support Japanese. The people of Japan has nothing to do with this. It is the whalers. And I don't even support them either... please read before you type. I don't support whalers or eat whales. All I'm saying is if it is soooooo "Illegal" and you have tons of facts/evidence, take it to the right place. But please don't use violence. (ex: SS)

Red beard:
I know what you are trying to say. Killing pregnant whales are cruel and all that, but you better wake up and see that the world was much more cruel in the past and it will continue to be cruel as long as humans live. There are millions of animals being killed everyday so we can eat them. Also, I'm "putting down" the SS, only because they resort to violence. I hope you understand what I am trying to say.

Factman:
I don't know where you get these "facts", do you just cut and paste from some site? hahaha... good luck with your gibberish. I wish you well when you present them at court or send them to someone.

Paul Watson:
Get a real job you blob. It looks like you ate a couple of whales already. Whaling will go on with or without you. You may be able to slow it down a little, but you can't stop it. Even a kid knows that. In the end, all your effort will be wasted. The day that whaling stops around the world, I will come back to this site and say I was wrong. But don't hold your breath.

To the rest of you:
Please stop using the word "Jap", that is racist. And using the atrocities of the Hiroshima is really mature. I'm sure bombing of innocent civilian women and children does not equate to killing of whales. Even the harden environmentalist should denounce such remarks. But the silence is deafening. I do not hear anyone denouncing racist remarks, I guess everyone is ok with it... sad.

[pilot]

Somebody should have painted 'Research' onto the Enola Gay ahead of its experimentation over Japan

[Agent blue]

The Japanese lied to the world on December 6, 1941

In 1945, and appropriate repsonse was made to these lies ending WW2.

It feels like a response like this is needed again.

[SaveMeSaveYou]

Now the Japanese are launching an attack:

"What that means is that we've got Japanese military personnel down here attacking our ship in the French territorial zone. We've notified the French Government of this and they're quite concerned," he said.

[confucius jr]

Japs are brutal butchers illegally whaling in a sanctuary. That is up there with poaching. It's high crime on the high seas what they are doing.

[Paul Watson]

You are an embarrasment to the real confucius:

His philosophy emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity

NONE of which you demostrate by being immature on here.

[clubbed]

Where did I read about the dog food thing? I saw it on TV being reported by the Japanese media. They were saying they have so much whale meat in the deep freeze, that they are running out of space for it.

Calling me a sheeop brain? WTF? If you can't be decent, don't post. People reading this stuff will see that its you that looks the fool as soon as you start getting personal. Keep it objective - if you can't, then come back when you have grown up.

[Red Beard]

Ahh dear. Confucius

What can I say?

Sure, let's call it SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. So what do they do exactly? Lets see, butcher 1000 whales (mothers, calves, pregnant ones) whatever - haul them up the slip ramp and cut off all the good meat and dump the rest back in the ocean. Put all the meat into boxes and freeze it. Sure they hold banners up saying we're doing research. They might measure them and write some details down...

But hell man, thats science hey? Seems pretty brutal to me? Seems like an awful lot of whale meat to take to do their tests?

Anyway, when we say its commerical whaling in disguise, they dont refute this. Instead they say Whaling is a tradition. Its in our culture. Our national heritage. Ok, so then we take a different tact.

Sure, back in the day they took a few whales that came in near the shore (a couple per year) with some pretty primitive boats / weaponry. I'll grant that. Theres no way grenade tipped harpoon with full factory procession is traditional. They only whaled like that after WW2 pretty much destroyed them. Every country was. Whaling was huge. THese days however, its a dead industry really.

Even if we grant Japan the 'Heritage thing' - you know, a lot of things were done that were once in a nations 'heritage' - look at USA & slave trade. Cannibalism across the islands, Womens rights etc. Point is - countries, grow and mature and change for the future.

The fact you keep putting down SS shows what sort of person you are (and that aint much in my books).

[FactMan]

What is wrong with these:

- Japanese whalers are defying a global moratorium on whaling
- They are commericially whaling under the guise of science
- They are in the Australian Antarctic Territory without permission
- They are illegally taking whales from a declared whale sanctuary
- They are in the Antarctic zone operating illegally because they are carrying weapons and are refuelling & dumping waste into the ocean
- They are in contempt of an Austrlian High court injunction on whaling in the Whale sanctuary
- The killing methods are slow, brutal and highly cruel
- They are taking threatended and endangered whales. Minke numbers are an estimate & no one really knows how many of them there are.

you keep rambling on about Sea Shepherd - leave them out of it for the moment and address each of these will you? instead of just being a flaming brute...

[Danger Mouse]

confucius,

Stop attacking people. Ok - so you support the Japanese. Big deal. Most people oppose what they are doing.

Whether it is illegal or not, depends who you ask. Sure, it is commercial whaling in disguise. In fact the Japanese environment minister recently talked about the whaling operations in an unscientific whale. He makes no effort to hide the fact the meat is eaten. If you still think it's science, then you probably think the world is flat too and that the universe revolves around the earth. And that is fine.

I dont think SS use violence for political purposes...do you? They are just trying to stop whaling. They have no political agenda. Just pure passion.

Post useful comments hey? You are highly emotive which means no reasonable arguments come from you.

[confucius]

Red Beard:

From the Cambridge dictionary:
terrorist (noun)
/ˈter.ə.rɪst/US pronunciation symbol/-ɚ.ɪst/ n [C]
someone who uses violent action, or threats of violent action, for political purposes.

Sounds like the SS to me. I'm narrow minded? Think outside the box? What the hell is that? Did you get all your wit from commercials on TV from the 90's? Check the mirror to see who is really narrow minded.

[confucius]

Factman:

Why don't you send all those facts and sue the whalers? Or send them to NZ or Australia? They will laugh at you so hard.

Clubbed:

You claim all the whale meat is going to dog food? I'd like to see some hard evidence before you post. It seems like you are just saying things which are rumors or half-truths. Where did you see it? On a website? so it must be true? What a sheep brain.

[confucius]

Red beard:

You said the Japanese are whaling "commercially" which is not true. They are doing SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, which every nation is allow to do. Therefore, it is not "illegal". You don't use logic, do you? Or do you not understand the word? Do you need a dictionary? It must have been very hard to pass special ed. for you. You are so emotionally blinded which leads you away from logic. Facts, just stick to the facts. SS nor anyone else can do a damm thing about it because the LAW is on the side of Japan. They did their homework on this one. They know how to "work" the system. You may not like it, but that's how the game is played.

The thing is, I don't like whaling, but it is going to happen with or without SS minnow and capt crunch. I believe one day, Japanese will stop whaling, but it will be on their terms, not on SS.

If you truly want to stop whaling, you must work with the Japanese citizens and stop attacking them in directly. Most Japanese don't eat whale meat and do not condone whaling, but when "attacked" by outsider, they will stick together, right or wrong.

chimmychunga:

No, I didn't make the website. I was just googling and came across that site. Feel free to google and you too will find info on capt crunch and his gilligans. They have no real jobs, just floating on a ship looking for "next adventure" which makes them feel better about themselves.

I wonder how much oil and gas they are burning up to follow the whalers? Have they accidentally hit/kill any whales with their ship?
What would happen if one of those glass bottles hit someone in the face and injure or kill someone? Will capt lard be charged with murder? Nah, he will probably let him take the fall. Will animal planet and director be sued by the family? Ohh what fun it will be to watch a good comedy next season. Last season, I saw the Japanese ships pull in whale after whale right under SS's nose. And they all looked like deers caught in a head light. Hahahahaha

[clubbed]

" that last season the Japanese fleet captured over 300 female whales, 63 percent of which were pregnant. "

[clubbed]

funny thing is, they are feeding the meat to their dogs. yeah - dog food.

I'm sure thats in the history books. Whaling is a Japanese tradition, it's in our heritage! YEAH right scum bags. Its in our culture to hunt whales for dog food. A cherished tradition.

You only started whaling after WW2 when u were all but wiped out and were starving. Terrorist scum

[Ace]

The Japanese lied to Americans on December 6, 1941. You can't believe anything they say.

[FactMan]

The clear cut facts:

- Japanese whalers are defying a global moratorium on whaling
- They are commericially whaling under the guise of science
- They are in the Australian Antarctic Territory without permission
- They are illegally taking whales from a declared whale sanctuary
- They are in the Antarctic zone operating illegally because they are carrying weapons and are refuelling & dumping waste into the ocean
- They are in contempt of an Austrlian High court injunction on whaling in the Whale sanctuary
- The killing methods are slow, brutal and highly cruel
- They are taking threatended and endangered whales. Minke numbers are an estimate - no one really knows how many of them there are.

Therefore, Japan is in the wrong on so many levels. But yet they continue to pour money into a dying industry to save face and "not be told hwat to do by the west".

[ChimmyChunga]

wow confucius, did you set up that seashepherdlies website? pretty amazing(ly tacky) !

Sure, you can have grudges and create a whole website, but judging by the huge amounts of discussions going on in the message boards, the site recieves zero traffic...

Post useful things will you? You are my hero.

[Red Beard]

confucius,

Oh man. You are pretty funny. You have me laughing. But back to serious things... that's fine you can call SS terrorists and what not. I dont care, he certainly doesnt care. But perhaps you would like to explain why he's a terrorist? What is the definition of a terrorist??

I cant recall him doing anything that would even remotely resemble a terrorist. But thats ok, maybe you narrow mind can't think outside of the square on this one.

SS can't take them to court. This can only be done by NZ / Australia because they are in their antarctic territory - without permission, carry out commercial whaling in a whale sanctuary in defiance on a global ban on whaling. What part of that don't you get?

What's wrong with taking matters into your own hands? Diplomacy doesn't always work - as as no one is killed/hurt (which is the case so far) - what's the problem?

Go Paul, you have a lot of support. The people who don't support you are giving you free marketing and advertising.

[confucius]

Here is a site I just found and you can be the judge.

http://www.seashepherdlies.com/

[confucius]

Red Beard:

Confucius confused? Ooooh, I never heard that before. What a moron. Do you live in a trailer? Do you grow your own organic mushroom or marijuana and smoke them before you write on this post?

Look, I don't like whaling either, but unless you or anyone have the balls to take them to court, shut up. Try to take them to court and see what happens. The law is on the side of Japan. I will call SS eco-terrorist because they don't go to court, but they take matters into their own hands. Yah, I said "eco-terrorist". I call them like I see them.

http://www.activistcash.com/organization_overview.cfm/oid/347

Since Europeans hunt whales too, please feel free to boycott anything Japanese and European goods and buy American junk.

[dogma]

funny thing is, they are feeding the meat to their dogs. yeah - dog food.

I'm sure thats in the history books. Whaling is a Japanese tradition, it's in our heritage! YEAH right scum bags. Its in our culture to hunt whales for dog food. A cherished tradition.

You only started whaling after WW2 when u were all but wiped out and were starving. terrorist scum

[Japan is the titanic. Only one direction to go...]

Dropping a nuke onto the whaling fleet would look cool on youtube.

[darth vader]

"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."

[Sadder than sad]

Rewritten maritime safety and environmental laws threaten to rule Nisshin Maru out of Antarctic operations within a few years, and a new Japanese Government waste-watch committee is focusing on organisations that subsidise the whaling.

Sad - why post? nothing important to add, so go away.