Outrage over Japan's plan to slaughter humpback whales

So, the sea shepherds are pirates, eh?

You know what they do to pirates.

We didn't get to the top of the food chain by following climax hunting or livestock harvesting practices, either. Husband means someone who carefully preserves resources--if you've got any vestiges of scriptural memory, you'll recall being enjoined to be a good husbandman.

My ancestors considered their wealth to be displayed on the hoof in the form of herds of cattle. They didn't rush out and slaughter every bull, ox, steer, cow or heifer in sight, and therefore they prospered.



Truer words have rarely been written--you let your obsession run away with your good sense.

I disagree. It's the bigger picture I'm concerned with. Thinking small will only hurt my interests.

I'm not sure which bigger picture you're referring to, cjhsa.

The combined efforts of these idiots and the world body sometimes called the U.N., who want to disarm the citizenry of the United States under the guise of "civil rights" and "animal welfare".

They don't want you to eat meat, or fish, or even dairy. Hunting is bad and overpopulations should be treated with sterilization, ya know, vasectomies for deer and stuff. Guns are bad because guns kill people all by themselves.

People who think like this are brain dead IMO.

The liberal media loves Greenpeace. It creates a giant media event on the high seas - makes for great copy.

A breathtaking display of witless distortions . . .

cj has just removed all doubts. Hes soon going to be appearing on the Rex Bell show.

Msolga, uhhhh, If you google the sea shepherds you will find a number of sites about them. The guy who founded it , name of WAtson, also helped found Greenpeace and got the shits of their "Avon Lady" approach to conservation. They do take the law into their own hands and have been responsible for cutting long lines and drift nets, theyve fired on whalers (just for effect , never have they ever been found guilty of causing any personal injury). Theyve sunk a few whale boats while they were parked, and they rammed a Japanese whaler who was illegally whaling. The damage done to the whaleboat was superficial but serious in that it messed up all their nav. The Farley Mowat(their main boat) can be outfitted with workover type rigs so that they can tear up communications electronics and nav equipment.. Watson has been found guilty of some "ecoterrorist' act in Iceland (I believe) but hasnt been extradited to face time. He is protected by harbour of refuge laws by a number of central , and South American countries and (I beleive ) New Zealand.

Sometimes international laws just do not work and nobody wants to do the right thing. So we create "ecoterrorists" who become outlaws by normal standards. Watson's group is funded pretty much by donation

Thank you, farmerman. (See, it's true. You do learn something new here every day! )

Now that's my sort of eco-terrorist! I might even donate to the cause!:

The Japanese whale kill is illegal:

-They are violating the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling.

-They are targeting endangered fin and humpback whales that are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

-The Japanese are also in violation of the Australian laws protecting the Australian Antarctic Territorial waters.

- The Japanese are violating the Southern Ocean Sanctuary where whales are supposed to be safe.

http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_051222_1.html

And Seashepherd is absolutely right! And this is happening in Australian protected waters. Shame on the Australian government for not making a strong stand on this issue! Australian people are certainly outraged & distressed by what's happening. But hey, you wouldn't want anything to interfere with trade relations between the two countries, would you?

Last Update: Saturday, December 24, 2005. 7:12am (AEDT)

Whaler's no-show fails to deter protesters

Greenpeace says there will be a protest in Hobart this morning even though a Japanese whaling ship is no longer planning to dock in Tasmania.
The Kaiko Maru was expected to dock this morning to enable a sailor to receive medical treatment.

However, the man was air-lifted off the vessel yesterday to avoid a confrontation with protesters.

Greenpeace has been following the Japanese fleet's whaling operation near the Antarctic for days.

It says the fleet has now steamed north at high speed away from the ice shelf to shake off the protesters.

Greenpeace spokesman Jason Collins says it is important the anti-whaling campaign continues.

"The Australian Government has been given a clear opportunity to act, they've declined that," he said.

"That's why the local population here in Hobart has had to come out in force to show the ship is not welcome."

The crewman, in his 20s, is being treated for appendicitis in the Royal Hobart Hospital.

More on Sea Shepherd's plan of attack, from today's Sydney Morning Herald:

We'll go down blazing: hardliners vow to attack Japanese whalers
By Andrew Darby
December 24, 2005/Sydney Morning Herald

THE hardline environmental group Sea Shepherd has raised the stakes in the Antarctic whaling stand-off, saying it intended to attack the Japanese fleet, even at the cost of its own ship.

Its leader, Paul Watson, said on Friday that his group aboard the ship Farley Mowat expected a battle he had been working towards for 25 years.

"We have been warned that the Japanese have firearms and that they intend to aggressively resist us," Captain Watson said. .. Cont>

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/hardliners-vow-to-attack-whalers/2005/12/23/1135032186751.html

Heard on the news tonight that the Japanese whalers have headed south again ... so the whaling will soon resume, if it hasn't already.

In the meantime, more criticism of the government over it's handling of the situation:

... Greenpeace says the Federal Government is not taking a strong enough stand against whaling, while Greens leader Senator Bob Brown has argued the Government should send its own ship out to monitor the whaling.

Labor's environment spokesman Anthony Albanese says it is the Government's job to monitor the whalers.

"After all, this slaughter is occurring in waters which were declared the Australian whale sanctuary by the Australian Government more than six years ago, and yet the Australian Government's doing nothing whatsoever to enforce its own laws in these waters," he said.

Senator Campbell says sending a naval vessel to the Southern Ocean to monitor whaling is not an appropriate use of a military craft. ....

Govt shuns responsibility over whaling, Opposition says:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200512/s1537681.htm

A Reuters photograph showing Greenpeace activists aboard an inflatable boat trying to stop the shooting and eventual transfer of a minke whale in the Southern Ocean by one of the boats in the Japanese fleet. Published in today's AGE newspaper. Just to give you an idea of what it's like out there. I won't post any more, I promise. Very distressing.

extract from Sea Shepherd's latest posting, yesterday:

.... "Now the Australian government is claiming that the Greenpeace protest is counterproductive," continued Captain Watson. "The fact is that it was the Japanese ship that closed in on the Greenpeace vessel yet Environment Minister Ian Campbell scolded Greenpeace for not respecting the rules of the road. It appears that the Japanese can do no wrong in the eyes of the Australian government. Maybe now the question should be asked: "What really is going on here Mr. Campbell? Are you representing the people of Australia or the corporations
of Japan?"

Perhaps it is time once again to remind the Australian government of the crimes being committed by Japan:

1. The Japanese are whaling in violation of the International Whaling Commission's global moratorium on commercial whaling. The IWC scientific committee does not recognize this bogus research that the Japanese are using as an excuse.

2. The Japanese are killing whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

3. The Japanese are killing whales unlawfully in the Australian Antarctic Territory.

4. The Japanese are targeting fin whales this year and humpback whales next year. These are endangered species, and thus, this is a violation of CITES, the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.

5. The Japanese are in violation of IWC regulation 19(a) The IWC regulations in the Schedule to the Convention forbid the use of factory ships to process any protected stock: 19. (a) It is forbidden to use a factory ship or a land station for the purpose of treating any whales which are classified as Protection Stocks in paragraph 10. Paragraph 10(c) provides a definition of Protection Stocks and states that Protection Stocks are listed in the Tables of the Schedule. Table 1 lists all the baleen whales, including minke, fin, and humpback whales and states that all of them are Protection Stocks.

6. In addition, the IWC regulations specifically ban the use of factory ships to process any whales except minke whales: Paragraph 10(d) provides: "(d) Notwithstanding the other provisions of paragraph 10 there shall be a moratorium on the taking, killing or treating of whales, except minke whales, by factory ships or whale catchers attached to factory ships. This moratorium applies to sperm whales, killer whales and baleen whales, except minke whales." Fin and humpback whales are both baleen whales and are subject to this moratorium.

Six blatant violations of international conservation law and all the Australian government can do is to scold Greenpeace for being the victims of aggressive attacks by the Japanese whalers.

"Australia may not be Denmark, but something is clearly rotten in Canberra over this issue. What really is going on here Mr. Howard?," asks Captain Paul Watson.

http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_051223_1.html

As usual, America has its balls elsewhere and is silent as G Bush's pupeteers. Im distressed that theyve gone beyond their announced catch of minkes and are targeting Finbacks and humbacks.

Nothing new in this morning's media. Of course, that doesn't mean that all is quiet & peaceful in the southern ocean. It just means the media is taking Christmas off.

Anyway, some interesting reading for you all, once you get over the Christmas stuff & have some quiet time.:

Sea Shepherd Whale Defense Campaign 2005 Blog

Captain Paul Watson reports from onboard the Sea Shepherd flagship Farley Mowat as he and the volunteer crew sail the seas during the two-month long Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign 2005-6. Their mission is to locate and intercept the Japanese whalers who intend to target and kill endangered whales in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary of Antarctica. ... <go to Sea Shepherd blog below to continue>

http://www.seashepherd.org/whales/blog/whales_blog_001.html

And specifically for Australian supporters:

http://www.whale100000.org/

farmerman
There's a Sea Shepherd chapter starting up in Australia in January (info. in link). In Melbourne, my home. I think I might just go to their inaugural meeting & see what support they need!

Latest updates from Greenpeace Australia, including:

....Update, December 24: After 40 hours on the run, the Japanese fleet has recognised they're not going to shake us, and have resumed whaling, killing 5 minkes. We've been unable to launch inflatables due to rough seas, and are awaiting a break in the weather. ....

http://oceans.greenpeace.org/en/the-expedition/news/whalers-found

<sigh>

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/assets/graphics/found-whales-banner

Dec. 21
Yesterday, after weeks of being tossed about by the Southern Ocean, we came upon what we were looking for - the Japanese whaling fleet. My ship, the Esperanza, and the Arctic Sunrise, pulled within inches of the nearest Japanese vessel. Our activists set out in eight rigid inflatable boats and did what we do best - put ourselves in harm's way to protect the whales.


As the action was in full swing, two Japanese "catcher" ships arrived on the scene with dead minke whales hung from their hulls. I positioned my ship, the Esperanza, in front of the stern ramp of the factory ship to block the transfer of the catch. This prompted one of the catcher ships to try to push my ship out of the way. For the safety of all of us onboard, I was forced to pull the Esperanza back. Meanwhile, the whalers turned high-pressure fire hoses on our activists and tried to beat them with metal rods and hooks.

I can't tell you how much it means to us to know that there are thousands of people back home supporting us during these difficult times. Last week, you really rallied behind us to reach our goal of raising $50,000 so that we can stay out on the high seas and confront the Japanese whaling fleet. To date, you've helped us reach $28,336 toward our goal - thank you so much. Please, if you haven't given already, or can make an additional donation, help us win our fight against the whalers.

Sincerely,


Captain Frank Kamp
Greenpeace Ship Esperanza


P.S. I'm so proud of my crew for their valiant efforts yesterday, and I'm so grateful to you for the support you've given us. Please, forward this message to friends and family, and encourage them to help fight unnecessary whale slaughter.


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When ya get right down to it, whales are a threatened population--the Japanese are not. They can do quite well if they don't get whale meat.

Yeah, that's about the size of it, isn't it, Setanta? An awful lot of trouble, pain & grief simply to have sushi on the table!