Outrage over Japan's plan to slaughter humpback whales

Shiver me timbers & aye aye, cap'n! (Or whatever pirates are supposed to say! )

Thanks Stradee. And a happy & fulfilling 2006 to you!

:wink:



Happy new year, Anon.

12/30/2005 (Last press release from Sea Shepherd):

Report from the Farley Mowat with Letter to Australian Senator

Three ships continue to chase the Japanese whaling fleet along the coast of Antarctica.

The Greenpeace ship Esperanza is the fastest vessel and is keeping on the tail of the Nisshin Maru.

The Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise and the Sea Shepherd ship Farley Mowat are running flanking positions in an effort to spot the Japanese harpoon vessels which have been out of sight for days.

The conservation ships are sweeping along the coast corridor with radar and helicopter reconnaissance flights with the objective of ferreting out the positions of the illegal harpoon vessels.

There is no question but that the Japanese fleet is on the run, speeding westward, and there is no evidence of any whaling activity taking place since Christmas day. .......................................

........................... Meanwhile, Australian Environment Minister Ian Campbell is accusing Sea Shepherd of endangering the factory ship Nisshin Maru on Christmas Day.

To this, Captain Watson responds, "The video clearly shows that it was the Farley Mowat that had the right of way and the Nisshin Maru attempted to ram our ship. Despite this evidence, when the Japanese complain, Campbell goes running to appease Tokyo. Is there no limit to how low these politicians will go to kow tow to Japan over trade agreements?"

Captain Watson has informed Ian Campbell that if he has charges against Sea Shepherd or himself, he will return to Australia to face whatever charges Australia can concoct.

"Stop threatening us and charge us if you believe we are acting unlawfully. Stop posing for the Japanese. Show us you have authority down here in these waters Mr. Campbell, charge us, and then explain how you have authority over me as a Canadian on a Canadian ship but not the Japanese who are in blatant violation of international conservation and Australian laws in Australian territorial waters?"

Sea Shepherd has officially requested the presence of an Australian Naval vessel to monitor the activities in the Southern Ocean. Ian Campbell has refused to send a naval vessel on the grounds that Japan does not recognize the Australian Antarctic Territory.

The question must be asked: Does Australia claim the Australian Antarctic Territory or not? If not, then the name should be taken off the maps and charts and the area surrendered to Japanese exploitation. .....................
<cont>

http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_051230_1.html

To Senator Ian Campbell
Minister of the Environment for Australia

December 30, 2005

Dear Mr. Campbell,


Once again I am officially requesting that you send an Australian Naval vessel to the Southern Oceans to monitor the activities down in this area.

It appears that whenever the Japanese register a complaint you believe them. You need to have your own eyes and ears down here before you start threatening us with charges for crimes we have not committed.

"Stop threatening us and charge us if you believe we are acting unlawfully. Stop posing for the Japanese. Show us you have authority down here in these waters Mr. Campbell, charge us, and then explain how you have authority over me as a Canadian on a Canadian ship but not the Japanese who are in blatant violation of international conservation and Australian laws in Australian territorial waters?"

Are you ordering us out of the waters of the Australian Antarctic Territory?

Are you saying that you have jurisdiction over me as a Canadian, my Canadian flagged ship or any of my international crew?

Are you accusing us of breaking or threatening to break any laws within the territory of Australia?

We would like to know where we stand with Australia concerning our activities in opposition to the illegal whaling operations of the Japanese whaling fleet.

We await your advice on these questions.

Sincerely,

Captain Paul Watson
President and Founder
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Just a bunch of pirate anti-hunters with more respect for wildlife than human life.

When the battle is brought to the mainland of the U.S., in the name of the U.N. and Greenpeace and whatever other liberal nimwits want to join the party, in order to disarm us and end our tradition of hunting, then the battle will truly begin.

I've clearly stated here that I don't support hunting of endangered species, though others here have libeled and misquoted me. Hell, manage the species properly until they can be hunted, then manage the hunt. Until that is realized, there will never be any balance.

Really?

Wonder who said this, then?:

CJ,

I have good news. I gave Greenpeace $25 in your name. Don't bother to thank me!

Happy New Year!!

Anon

Minke is only on the endangered species list because of unreasonable people like yourself. Numbers are abundant, same as the humpback.

Say what you are. Antis.

$25 will buy one tank of water pollutant for the Seadoos.

In this case, maybe it will buy a few cases of beer for the crews of the Greenpeace ships

Anon

Got some stats to back up that statement, cjhsa?

Refuelled ships to resume whaling
January 3, 2006 - 4:04PM/the AGE

Greenpeace, watching over the nearby Japanese whaling fleet south of Australia's Heard Island and McDonald Islands territory, is expecting a resumption of whaling and protest activity soon.

The six-ship Japanese fleet has refuelled and is just half a day's steaming from the Antarctic whaling area, according to Greenpeace expedition leader Shane Rattenbury.

Greenpeace has two ships, the Esperanza and the Arctic Sunrise, in the Southern Ocean, hounding the whalers who intend slaughtering more than 900 whales in the region this summer.

The whalers have been unable to kill whales for the past 10 days due to inclement weather and harassment by Greenpeace and the Sea Shepherd ship, Farley Mowat, operating separately. .. <cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/refuelled-ships-to-resume-whaling/2006/01/03/1136050433318.html

http://www.omplace.com/omsites/discover/MINKE/minkeg.html

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/whales/species/Minke.shtml

"..the most abundant baleen whale...".

From the first link:

"Although it's numbers are not endangered it is on the endangered list as a threatened species"

Why?

Ms. Olga,

Just think of all that expensive fuel they burned up without getting a catch! That's success!!

Anon

"harrassment" is truly the key word in Msolga's last post.

A sidebar to this thread, for those interested.

http://nugeboard.tednugent.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/240365.html

Sorry? The post about refuelling the Japanese ships & the likely resumption of whaling? Harassment?

Sea Shepherd on the refuelling mentioned earlier:

01/03/2006

Japanese Fleet Once Again Violates the Antarctic Treaty

The Japanese fleet stopped running today. They stopped to refuel from a Panamanian tanker named the Oriental Bluebird.

The rest of the fleet has appeared at the rendezvous point.

This is another blatant violation of international law. It is illegal to bring an oil tanker into the Antarctic Treaty zone and it is illegal to refuel at sea inside the Antarctic Treaty zone.

We are not expecting Australia to protest this because the Australian government appears to have given the Japanese whalers carte blanche to do whatever they like in the Southern Oceans. ........................


.................... Now we wait to see what Japan is going to do. Will they resume whaling and where? Will they return to the East or remain in the West and work eastward?

http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_060103_1.html