OUTRAGE OVER WHALING ... #2 <cont>

An interesting parragraph from an Age artical today

Whale fleet hostilities resume after duo's release
Andrew Darby, Hobart
January 19, 2008
...

The two attempted to hand over letters identifying themselves, promising no harm, and telling the whalers they were breaking the law. They brought with them backpacks containing a change of clothes and toiletries.

Were they expecting to be detained? Why did they take a change of clothes and toiletries? sometunig does not ring true here. I have had the feeling that sea shepard works the media very very well.

Of course they do, dadpad! It is all about getting publicity for their cause! And that is precisely what the Japanese whalers/Japanese government were trying to do by their retaliatory actions! Hearts & minds, media manipulation. Both sides.

msolga, I saw this on T.V. here. Thats some good coverage for you guys. Right on.

Hey there, Amigo!

Yes, there certainly was lots of coverage, alright!

But I reckon the most interesting aspect of this "story" (which the Sea Shepherd "illegal boarding" brought into sharp focus) was what the Australian & Japanese government representations said to each other behind the scenes, in their efforts to defuse the situation. Did they discuss whaling in the Southern Ocean, in a whale sanctuary? Did they discuss the necessity or otherwise of "scientific research"? The talks certainly went on for a long time before the Australian government acted!

Update from today's Sydney Morning Herald. Lots of heightened drama behind the whaling scene, obviously!:

Greenpeace maintains pressure on whale fleet
Andrew Darby and Orietta Guerrera
January 21, 2008/SMH

THE Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru steamed on through turbulent Southern Ocean weather with Greenpeace's Esperanza still locked behind it yesterday as disruption to its whaling season continued.

The eight-day pursuit was beginning to cut seriously into the 985-whale target that the Japanese whalers have set for this season, but gale-force winds also prevented any whaling in the local area south-west of Australia.

Meanwhile, after losing contact with the whaling fleet late on Friday, Sea Shepherd's ship, the Steve Irwin, was hunting for the whalers again.

Captain Paul Watson said his ship was dragged away from the Japanese whaling fleet in order to make contact with the customs patrol ship Oceanic Viking.

Captain Watson said storm conditions were hampering Sea Shepherd efforts to locate the Japanese fleet, with his crew encountering wind speeds of 30 to 40 knots and swells of about 5.5 metres.

He said a helicopter that Sea Shepherd has used for surveillance patrols had been grounded until the storm abated.

"The strong storm conditions prevent them from whaling but it also prevents us from getting out there and finding them," Captain Watson said.

"Without the helicopter we're sort of blind here, just looking at the radar sightings."

Greenpeace has a policy of refusing to provide position co-ordinates to Sea Shepherd, because of its methods of attacking the whaling fleet, instead of intervening peacefully.

The Japan Whaling Association said Australian authorities should have detained two Sea Shepherd activists who boarded the whale chaser Yushin Maru No. 2, rather than use the Oceanic Viking to take them back to the Steve Irwin.

"It is obvious they would rather assist Sea Shepherd with its violent illegal actions against Japan's perfectly legal research program," whaling association president Keiichi Nakajima said. .... <cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/climate-watch/greenpeace-maintains-pressure-on-whale-fleet/2008/01/20/1200764082391.html

Interesting. First I read this (in the news report above):

"Shepherd activists who boarded the whale chaser Yushin Maru No. 2, rather than use the Oceanic Viking to take them back to the Steve Irwin.

"It is obvious they would rather assist Sea Shepherd with its violent illegal actions against Japan's perfectly legal research program," whaling association president Keiichi Nakajima said."

... and then I read this article (below), also published today, from an Australian perspective, which is more openly critical of the Japanese government & whaling authorities than any I have seen in the "respectable" Australian media during this debate.:


Japan must stop taking the minke
Paul Sheehan
January 21, 2008/the Sydney Morning Herald


Illustration: Rocco Fazzari


One of the world's great wilderness areas, the last large place we have not managed to screw up, is the Kimberley, home to the world's largest pristine savanna woodlands, a spectacular coastline and numerous ancient rock paintings. At the top of the region's species chain is the humpback whale, which lives in the Kimberley coastal archipelagos.

The Buccaneer Archipelago, Camden Sound and the Bonaparte Archipelago are the main calving ground for a population of humpback whales known as Group IV, one of the six major whale groups in the world. The sheltered harbours, islands, reefs and channels are used by whale cows to raise their calves and protect them from bull whales. Every year, the Group IV humpback population, estimated at between 8000 and 12,000, makes a return journey of 13,000 kilometres between the Kimberley and the feeding areas of the Antarctic.

This year, when the Group IV humpbacks migrated to the Southern Ocean, the Japanese whaling fleet planned to be waiting for them. Fifty humpbacks whales were to be slaughtered for "research", with 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales. Only a public furore and the intervention of environmental activists saved the humpbacks this year.

In future, the whales may get hit by the Japanese both home and away. A Japanese company, Inpex, part-owned by the Japanese Government, wants to build a massive liquid natural gas processing plant on the Maret Islands, off the Kimberley coast. Inpex plans to pipe natural gas and light oil from the Browse Basin, where a huge natural gas field has been discovered, to a port and plant it would build on the Marets.

The Marets sit in a major tidal area (the Kimberley is famous for its "horizontal waterfalls", which are massive and rapid tidal shifts), a cyclone area and an untainted, fertile marine habitat. There are other places in Western Australia, already developed but further away, where the gas could be processed. If a Japanese company were to propose this project for the Great Barrier Reef, they would be thrown out of court. But the Inpex plan, which dissects the migration and breeding terrain of the whales, is moving ahead. The Japanese can make valid arguments for their developments in Australia. The natural gas field represents a huge export industry. As for the Japanese whaling, the harvesting of 50 humpback whales would make only a dent on a population of 10,000 whales, and the Group IV population has been growing at about 10 per cent a year.

Japanese whalers are also operating in what are regarded as international waters. While the Humane Society has obtained a Federal Court order declaring whaling illegal in our designated whale sanctuary, Australia's territorial claims to the Australian Antarctic Territory are not recognised by the rest of the world. The court's order thus has no standing in international law. The Japanese have also sought to avoid confrontations with protest ships and two members of Sea Shepherd who boarded a Japanese whaler were returned safely to their ship, which, it should be noted, operates under a pirate flag.

Even so, the Japanese ambassador to Canberra, Taka-aki Kojima, who took up his post in November, needs to inform his Government that real damage is being done to Japan's reputation in this country over an issue which represents an absurdly small fraction of Japan's economy.

I have become disillusioned by the deceit of the Japanese Government, and I am the same person who wrote, in this opinion space, in March 2006: "[Japan is a] great country … It is the global economic power we take for granted … [It should have] a permanent seat in the Security Council [as] the world's second-largest economy, second-most important democracy, and a bulwark of prudence in global diplomacy … Japan has been a good friend of Australia … [It] provides our biggest export surplus, and is our strongest diplomatic ally in Asia."

All this was undermined by the director-general of the Institute of Cetacean Research, Minoru Morimoto, when he delivered his Government's latest insult to our intelligence in a piece in the Herald last week in which he wrote, "Article VIII of the whaling convention unequivocally provides the right to kill whales for research purposes."

What is the "research" Japan is conducting? If it is only census-taking, why do they need to kill creatures in order to count them? How does harvesting 1000 whales for sale constitute "research"? The Japanese position makes a mockery of the law and should have been challenged in court years ago. As for whaling's "cultural significance" to Japan, there is not even a remote link between seaborne slaughterhouses operating on the other side of the world and traditional whaling in Japanese coastal waters.

This latest dispute is a reminder that a policy of systematic doubletalk by the Japanese Government has been continuing for decades. It can be traced back to the afternoon of December 8, 1941, when the US ambassador to Tokyo was handed a declaration of war, well after thousands of Americans had been murdered or wounded at Pearl Harbour in an attack that began at 7:55am, December 7.

Deceit from all layers of the Japanese Government has been part of policy ever since the end of the war. Rampant trade protection was hidden behind the guise of strict customs rules. Military atrocities during World War II were airbrushed from school history texts. Japan's racial and cultural homogeneity has been protected by anti-immigration policies.

The widespread anger in Australia over whaling is not being directed at the Japanese people. The anger is directed at the lies of the Japanese Government, which has sent a whaling fleet 12,500 kilometres from home to exploit the heritage of our region.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/whale-watch/japan-must-stop-taking-the-minke/2008/01/20/1200764074897.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

msogla, today from Greenpeace: January 22, 2008


For eleven days, we've been chasing the Japanese whaling factory ship Nisshin Maru through Antarctic waters. Every day they've spent trying to outrun us has been a safe day for whales. In fact, we estimate that by shutting down the whaling operations, we've saved as many as 82 whales through our efforts.

But today, the Nisshin Maru engaged in a different type of illegal activity, and we were there to stop it. It attempted to refuel in Antarctic Treaty waters. The Panamanian flagged ship Oriental Bluebird arrived on the scene, in an effort to refuel the fleet and take on packaged whale meat, processed in the weeks before we located the fleet. Refueling in the Antarctic is dangerous and a serious threat to the Antarctic environment which is recognized internationally as a specially protected area.

We immediately launched our inflatable boats, including mine. We steered a course between the Nisshin Maru and Oriental Bluebird. The Esperanza warned the vessels of our presence, but they continued to maneuver together, essentially trapping us between the two huge ships.


Two of the Japanese hunting ships were also on the scene, harassing our activists for more than an hour by performing close-quarter maneuvers near our boats, as we documented the exchange of whale meat and fuel between the Nisshin Maru and Oriental Bluebird.

Our boats are less than 26 feet in length, but we managed to keep the Goliath whaling ships apart long enough for another ship to appear on the horizon: Australia's Oceanic Viking. Now the Australian government is on the scene and documenting the Japanese whaling fleet's illegal activities for themselves.

Take Action Now >> Help us take the fight to save the whales off the water and into the political arena. It's time for President Bush to demand that Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda immediately abandon this whaling operation.

It has been an intense experience here in the waters of Antarctica, but another real battle will be fought by you, and we are counting on your help to apply political pressure where it counts most - right at home.

Sincerely,

Heath Hanson
Boat Driver

America, Take Action At: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/

A bit of a lull in the Oz media at the moment, after days & days of saturation reporting fromm the Southern Ocean, articles, blogs .... (far too much to post here.)

Anyway ... I found this article by Peter Singer, a few days ago, very interesting.Actually, I agree with much of what he has to say.:

The West as cruel to animals as the Japanese
Peter Singer
January 22, 2008/the AGE

Culling and factory farms are two ways animals are made to suffer.



The hostage crisis began when the activists boarded a Japanese harpoon boat last Tuesday. Because the leader of the conservation group Sea Shepherd refused to cease his disruption of the whaling fleet, the Japanese refused to return the two men. But the stalemate was broken two days later.

In 1977 the Australian Government, in the face of Greenpeace protests, appointed the retired judge, Sydney Frost, to head an inquiry into whaling.

Whales cannot be humanely killed: they are too large If there were some life-or-death need that humans could meet only by killing whales, perhaps the ethical case could be countered. But everything we get from whales can be obtained without cruelty elsewhere. Thus, whaling is unethical.

Frost agreed that the methods were inhumane, remarking on "the real possibility that we are dealing with a creature which has a remarkably developed brain and a high degree of intelligence". Malcolm Fraser's conservative government accepted his recommendation that whaling be stopped, and Australia soon became an anti-whaling nation.



The Japanese say discussion of whaling should be carried out on the basis of evidence, without "emotion". They think that humpback numbers have increased sufficiently for the killing of 50 to pose no danger to the species. On this narrow point, they might be right. But no amount of science can tell us whether or not to kill whales. Indeed, the desire to kill whales is no less motivated by "emotion" than opposition to it. Eating whales is not necessary for health or nutrition; it is a tradition some Japanese are emotionally attached to.

They have one argument that is not easily dismissed. They claim that Western countries are just trying to impose their cultural beliefs on the Japanese. The best response to this argument is that the wrongness of causing needless suffering to sentient beings is not culturally specific. (It is, for instance, a precept of Japanese Buddhism.)



(the Australian slaughter of kangaroos), hunting and factory farms. The West will have little defence against the charge of cultural bias until it addresses needless animal suffering in its own backyard. GUARDIAN

Peter Singer, a professor of bioethics at Princeton University, is the author of Animal Liberation and The Ethics of What We Eat (with Jim Mason).

http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/peter-singer/2008/01/21/1200764167345.html

just caught up with this new thread. Nobody said anything to me.

Ah. It was announced at the end of the last thread, farmer. Jespah contacted me, saying it had gotten too big (& requesting a "new" thread) as A2K was experiencing some difficulties as a result.

Anyway, lovely to see you again!!

msolga,

Pete Singers' a real champion for animal welfare and sentient rights.

Thanks for printing the article.

I'm pretty sure it's illegal to go whaling in Utah.

Yes, he's certainly been at it for a long, long time, Stradee. I have a lot of respect for him. (BTW he harks from my neck of the woods - Melbourne.)

I think you might be right! :wink:

Japan's PM speaks out on whaling
Andrew Darby in Hobart
January 25, 2008/SMH

On the defence … the Prime Minister, Yasuo Fukuda.
Photo: AFP

THE Japanese Prime Minister, Yasuo Fukuda, has mounted a defence of his Government's Antarctic whaling, in evidence of growing sensitivity to the hunt domestically.

Mr Fukuda was asked about "scientific" whaling in the Parliament, the Diet, and also spoke to the BBC in Tokyo as the program came under greater scrutiny in the Japanese media.

He admitted in the Diet that there were cultural differences over whaling, and in the way that Japan hunted, and conducted its science.

But he said it was unforgivable to illegally interfere with whaling, referring to the stand-off over the detention of two Sea Shepherd activists who boarded a Japanese catcher vessel last week.

"We have just asked the relevant countries to take proper measures, and Japanese Government will work closely in order not to see such illegal activities in the future," Mr Fukuda said.

He told the BBC that Japan was not breaking any law in the hunt for up to 985 minke and fin whales, which Japan conducts under its own scientific research permit, and he appealed to anti-whaling nations to deal with the issue calmly.

Observers from Greenpeace who monitored the comments said it was very rare for a Japanese political leader to speak about whaling at all. Mr Fukuda was also involved in talks last week with the Australian Government to resolve the Sea Shepherd impasse, according to agency reports.

The Japanese Foreign Minister, Masahiko Komura, earlier told Australia's Trade Minister, Simon Crean, that Australia should take "appropriate action" under national laws against the two activists if the Sea Shepherd ship, the Steve Irwin, called at an Australian port.

Coming on top of the involvement of the country's influential Cabinet Secretary, the issue appears to have reached a new level, beyond the powerful Fisheries Agency of Japan.

Opening a new front in the campaign, Greenpeace also targeted the leading Japanese digital camera maker, Canon, a big sponsor of projects to save endangered wildlife.

It asked Canon to sign a statement formally rejecting scientific whaling. However, the company replied, "scientific opinion about research whaling varies … we will not sign the statement you have sent us".

Greenpeace's Japan Whale Project leader, Junichi Sato, said that Canon sold cameras by using pictures of endangered species, including whales. "Greenpeace is amazed that Canon wouldn't condemn the killing of threatened species for fake research."

As the Steve Irwin tried to catch up with the whaling fleet, the Sea Shepherd leader, Paul Watson, said Japan was willing to subsidise a highly unpopular whale hunt because Tokyo had its sights set on establishing rights to other Antarctic resources, such as krill fisheries and subsea oil and gas.

Meanwhile, a Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion joined the growing number of ships and aircraft watching events unfold in the Southern Ocean.

In an exchange with the Steve Irwin while it was steaming east, due south of Perth, the RNZAF Orion said it was looking for illegal fishing vessels. But the aircraft's flight also probably took it over the whaling fleet.

On the surface, the factory ship Nisshin Maru was being shadowed by the Australian Customs patrol Oceanic Viking last night.

The Nisshin Maru had separated from the harpooned-equipped catcher ships, which were earlier monitored by customs officers using small boats.

The fleet was still steaming without whaling, a spokeswoman for the Home Affairs Minister, Bob Debus, said.

It is nearly two weeks since the fleet was found and began running from both anti-whaling groups. Greenpeace's Esperanza remains on the tail of Nisshin Maru.

- with agencies


http://www.smh.com.au/news/whale-watch/japans-pm-speaks-out-on-whaling/2008/01/24/1201157559842.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Note: The **** which appears instead of the Japanese PM's name in the article above is as a result of A2K's filter. I've tried to change it to the proper spelling but I can't.

Latest update. GreenPeace is returning to Oz, too, at the same time & won't return this season.:

Sea Shepherd protesters heading to Melbourne to refuel
January 29, 2008 - 2:49PM/SMH

Sea Shepherd anti-whaling activists in the Southern Ocean preparing to head back to Australia hope to continue their protest after refuelling.

The hardline activist group is planning new tactics to allow it to stop the Japanese from taking any whales at all during next season's hunt.

Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson said by satellite phone from the Southern Ocean today he would head his ship, the Steve Irwin, back to Melbourne tomorrow as it was dangerously low on fuel.

He expected to arrive in port during the weekend but said he wanted to raise funds to buy more fuel and head back to sea to continue tailing the Japanese fleet.

"What we are going to try and do is come back, if we can get the funds and the fuel," he said.

Watson said he thought next year his group could stop the Japanese from hunting any whales at all.

"The lesson I have learned is that next year we will come back with two ships, and stagger them. We will send one than another three weeks' later, then relieve it," Watson said.

"I think if we can keep with these guys from the beginning of the season until the end we can stop them killing any whales.

"I am going to spend the rest of the year trying to raise the funds to get a second ship down here," he said.

He said information from aboard the Australian Customs ship the Oceanic Viking, also tailing the Japanese fleet, was being leaked to him.

"From what we understand from the Oceanic Viking no whales have been killed so I think we are going to make our goal of no whales being killed before the end of the month," he said. ..<cont>

http://www.smh.com.au/news/whale-watch/sea-shepherd-protesters-head-to-melbourne-to-refuel/2008/01/29/1201369111595.html

News from NZ, reported a few days ago:

New Zealand PM warns Japanese whalers
January 25, 2008/SMH

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has warned Japanese whaling ships, saying surveillance photos of the fleet revealing their location will be published if they enter New Zealand's Antarctic waters.

Japan's six ship whaling fleet has been trying to avoid anti-whaling protest ships in the Southern Ocean after protesters stopped whaling operations when two activists boarded a whaling ship and another group stopped a whaling ship refuelling.

The militant Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which boarded the Japanese ship, has threatened to find the whalers and stop them whaling.

Greenpeace, which prevented the fleet's factory ship Nisshin Maru from refuelling, is also searching for the whalers.

Royal New Zealand Air Force reports the whalers were heading for New Zealand's Antarctic waters, where it has search and rescue responsibilities but not sovereignty, prompted Clark to warn off the Japanese fleet.

"The Government's instructions have been that if the Japanese whaling fleet is discovered in the area where New Zealand is patrolling, then we would like photographs and we will release them," Clark told reporters.

"We won't release coordinates for obvious safety related reasons but we will put information out to the world where we see the fleet," she said.

Clark said the presence of the whalers anywhere near New Zealand's search and rescue area was a cause of grave concern. ...<cont>

http://www.smh.com.au/news/whale-watch/new-zealand-pm-warns-japanese-whalers/2008/01/24/1201157673826.html

This is just appalling.

Just imagine if GreenPeace & Sea Shepherd could have coordinated their efforts so there was an extended effort between the 2 groups. But no, both have left the Southern Ocean at the same time & GreenPeace will not be returning at all this whaling season. Sea Shepherd will not be returning until it's ship has refueled in Melbourne. And they continue to bicker with each other.

I just hope the Australian government is continuing with it's promised surveillance of the Japanese whaling activities.

And as for the Japanese whaling interests/government, they seem most intent on scoring points over the Australian government, insisting that action is taken against Sea Shepherd.

Poor bloody whales, as all this goes on, that's all I can say.

Japanese whalers resume hunt in Southern Ocean
By North Asia correspondent Shane McLeod/ABC News online

Posted 1 hour 15 minutes ago
Updated 47 minutes ago


Japan has renewed its call for Australia to deal with anti-whaling protesters it claims acted illegally. (File photo) (AFP: Greenpeace/Kate Davison)

Japan's whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean has gone back to work after the departure of environmental protesters.

Environmental groups Greenpeace has ended its campaign in the Southern Ocean after running low on fuel.

Sea Shepherd says its ship is on its way to Melbourne to stock up on fuel and supplies before resuming its pursuit of the whalers.

Japan has renewed its call for Australia to deal with protesters it claims acted illegally.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Tomohiko Taniguchi says Japan is waiting to see what action will be taken against the Sea Shepherd crew.

"We haven't heard anything yet so far in terms of [an] Australian response, but I hope very much that the Australian Government is going to actually do the consideration," he said.

Japan's Institute for Cetacean Research says it suspended its plans to kill 850 minke and 50 fin whales while the protesters were in the region.

But with their departure, it says it can now resume operations, and says its on track to meet its targets.

The announcement comes as Australia's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith arrives in Japan to discuss whaling and other bilateral issues with his Japanese counterpart.

Mr Smith will sign a joint treaty on taxation before talks with his Japanese counterpart Masahiko Komura. The two will also discuss security cooperation and ongoing trade negotiations.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/31/2151583.htm

Afraid the Japs show little more respect to the global community now, than they did 60 or 70 years ago.

Supreme arrogance.