The announcement by Japan’s Fisheries Agency that Sea Shepherd crew will be arrested if they disrupt Japanese whale killing operations has done little to stop the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The direct action animal rights organization, as seen on Animal Planet’s “Whale Wars”, says they are “undettered” by the threats.
“When you are willing to die for a whale, the threat of arrest is somewhat trivial,” said Captain Paul Watson. “It can only further our cause of defending the whales if the Japanese take Sea Shepherd crewmembers hostage and haul them back to Japan for prosecution. The diplomatic, political and jurisdictional issues will be profound.”
If arrested by the Japanese coastguard, Japan has stated that Sea Shepherd crew will be charged with forcible obstruction of business under Japanese law. Sea Shepherd claims they are acting in accordance with the United Nations Charter for Nature, which calls upon individuals and non-governmental organizations to uphold international conservation law.
“We must never forget that Japan is targeting threatened and endangered whales in an officially established whale sanctuary in violation of a global moratorium on commercial whaling and in defiance and contempt of an Australian Federal Court ruling prohibiting the killing of whales in the Australian Antarctic Territory,” said Sea Shepherd International Executive Director Kim McCoy.
The Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin departed on the 7th of December from Newcastle in New South Wales. “Whale Wars” is currently showing on Animal Planet and has been renewed for another season, which will include Splash star Daryl Hannah as a crewmember.
Image Credit: René Ehrhardt on Flickr under Creative Commons license.
Whale Wars is the best comedy on cable, what genius put together this group of buffoons?
I hope that the Nipps will sink your vessel. Afterall you are ordinairy Pirats and should be shot or trown over the side.
And dont cry if the Nipps take you to Japan for trail. The Dutch should take away the right of wave our Dutch flag.
why not pursue anchovies, or shad? theres more of them.
Most of the governments that can do something about the parasitic whale hunting won't. Why? Because most of the world's quality electronics are made in japan cheaply. The hunting area has long been established as a sanitary. Let's see what will happen if you go hunting on a nature reserve, you will either be jailed, heavily fined, or in some areas shot. The hunting is nothing more than the rich parasitic greed. Let's not forget that each whale brings around a million dollars. Once the whale population gets so low that trickle down effects start putting a strain on other countries food an finances, then something more forceful will be done. But as history repeats itself, nothing will be done by any powerful entity until the very last second. Too bad you can't mass breed 200,000 pound animals.
Japan has not changed their ways since defeat in World War II, they remain underhanded and exploit anything they feel "should" be theirs. No apologies here, Japan! You reap what you sow!
Sounds like almost every race on earth. Instead of curbing birth rates. We are so pro life that the orphan shelters overflow with unwanted children. We then turn to raping every natural resource available until there is nothing left. Then everyone says oooops maybe we shouldn't have done that. Did you know because of the farming practices, the deserts in the US boomed in size after europeans got here? North Africa's desert lands were also lush until we overdid that too. The overdone it list is very long. Damn we're f**k*d up.
These guys are a colossal joke. They are funded by Hollywood morons (sort of a redundancy) and they don't do 1% of what the purport to do (evidence in that they actually harass the Japanese whaling boats AFTER they have killed the whales, which contrary to Sea Shepherd's posts are NOT the endangered variety anyway). They are hypocrites and deserve everything they get in terms of arrests and convictions.
I can't stand those who exploit feel good things ("hug a whale") for their own demented causes, devoid of facts and hyped to the hilt. The reality is Sea Shepherd is a terrorist organization, and such groups are hurting legitimate causes and deserve our condemnation not our support.
Shame on you Sea Shepherd.
As noble as their intentions might be the Sea Shepherd crew actions are no more than piracy acts. The Japanese government has the right to protect the freedom of navigation of its whaling ships.
Yeah freedom engaging in illegal commercial whaling. And damaging the world's ecosystem. All over the world we have seen the bad results of over hunting. Some just don't learn and others just don't care. Humans really need to curb the baby making.
Don’t really care about SS or Japanese but violence shouldn’t be used. We should be smarter than that…
Once again Japan is acting against international law & conventions, hunting in a designated “whale sanctuary” under the guise of “scientific”! Are you kidding me? Then how can they charge them with interfering in a “commercial” act? Once again total hypocrassy from the Japanese government, so which is it? Scientific or commercial, you cannot have it both ways, but that is how they plan to get away with their environmental terrorism, & destroying the oceans & all in it, for their own commercial gain. Just as if they were acting in accordance to the IWC moratorium on commercial whaling they would not be buying whale meat from Iceland, that is “commercial” whaling…
Listen these people are militants.. both sides whalers and Sea Shepard…. just short of suicide bombers in my book. But it makes for compelling tv… I have read that to join the sea Shepard crew you need to be a vegan… wtf meat is awesome (steak & sushi all day for me so whatever) … But if I were to go to Japan I would stop at nothing to try whale… to see what’s so good about it.. oh well; my dream episode is when they ram the Nisshin Maru and both party’s die freezing to death… haha that would be great.. to see caring girl (yeah you know who I am talking about) drown. haha best ever.. haha.. I will eat a Philly roll and laugh.. haha..
I too am rooting for the Japs, after the whole Pearl Harbor thing, but the Sea Shepherds are bunch of Eco Hippie terrorists – hopefully on their next raid they will sink their ship and be plucked from the sea by the Japs who should keel haul for a few minutes each. Then serve them a meal of blowfish stew.
Supposedly this season the Sea Pirates will have 1 or 2 more large ships with devices to hurl projectiles at the Jap ships. The Jap ships should respond in kind – using shells loaded with that acid stuff they use. Along some of those baseball pitching machines to hurl baseballs at the them. Fight fire with fire. The Japs also need a couple of attack helicopters armed with acid sprayers. Another good idea would be sharpened steel rods sticking out of the sides of the Jap ships that would puncture the Irwins hull if they try to ram them again.
Go Japs!
You are the biggest idiot. You have no heart, your greedy, and every other bad trait of a human being. You get off on killing animals. There is no need to kill whales for profit or for food. We need to put your kind and the whaling japs on a island desert.
Total faith in the Sea Sheperds Crew and the mission they wish to accomplish. Every mission in life is a struggle, is it not? Everything takes time. If at first you don’t suceed don’t we try again? The Sea Sheperd crew will win this battle completley in time because they don’t give up!! So I wish people would not be so damn lame when it comes to making comments about the Sea Sheperds missions. They are not Losers!! Long Live The Whales!! Thanks to the Sea Sheperds Crew and Captain Watson.