Japan Plans to Arrest Sea Shepherd Crew
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.”
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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.
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.
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!
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..
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…