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.
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“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.
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…
The Sea Shepherds are a much like Animal liberation front. Soon they will probably on the FBI international terrorist list like A.L.F.
They need to be arrested they’re disgusting hypocrites and media whores flying a makeshift pirate flag. They care nothing for the lives of others and should be stopped called heroes. The worst part is they have ruined the effort of Greenpeace and other well meaning organizations in Japan, setting them back more than 10 years of work with an entire generation.
i’m just a stupid american,and i dont have the point of view that those that live in japan,and eat whale do,but scerw them !cant they just eat fish like the rest of us?
What they are doing is awesome! I love the new Navy girl! Great asset…but Peter Brown needs to go!!!!! He is only causing trouble, costing time, and putting lives in danger! Plus he is an @#%hole!
If Japan arrests the Sea Sheperd’s crew it will launch a probe into their whaling practices stemming from the huge debates over Japan having any rights to prosecute in the first place. This may slow them down but I dont think it will stop them.
I think that Japan is making too much money to give up at all. The Japanese youth may not like whale meat but someone is obviously buying it. People from all over the world have many uses for whales.
Whale Wars! What a great show. I’m rooting for the Japanese. Sea Shepheards are endangering the lives of sailors just trying to earn a living.
While quite a few people blame Japanese for hunting whales, they shamelessly overlook their eating apetite for other animals for cows or chickens, and even our forcefeeding ducks to make foie gra.
That is hypocracy, and not fair at all.
Australians and Americans have killed whales for centuries. They have killed far more whales than Japanese have done. Why is Sea Shepherd attacking Japan? SS looks just stupid.
Oh dear I feel for the Whales…
Oh wait I forgot sarcasm doesn’t come across so well in text!!
The Sea Shepherd and all crewmates are eco-terrorists. The sheer fact that Animal Planet endorses violence and eco-terrorism is appalling. Not to mention, who ends up helping the Sea Shepherd when it will eventually take-on water from ramming a much better equiped vessel in Arctic waters? The Coast Guard of the US is usually the one out there saving their asses. What a waste. I an my family will not be watching Animal Planet if they continue to endorse such glorified acts of terrorism.
congratulations on bringing public attention to this malignant practice!…animals are our partners on this world…this issue is as essential as human rights…don’t stop your good works….
Good. I’m sick of these eco-warrior (eco-terrorist) idiots. They give all legit environmental movements a bad name a cause many people to not want to associate with environmentalists because they don’t to be associated with these lunatics.
Boom goes Japanese ships?
Why don’t we just equip the whales with fricken laser beams?
Cool, now we have the Lefty Hollywood Hippies getting involved. Nothings says quality TV like a shrieking hippy out to make a good thing all about how they are there to “help out.”
This show is awesome and the Japanese know they’re wrong. They need to go back to making cool electronics and not kill whales. Personally, I think they need to get a sub for next season and sink the whole Japanese fleet. (of course rescue the crews first and take them to a nice tropical place….like Bikini Atoll)
Great article! Thanks!
Sure Japan. Make an international incident. Go ahead. See who wins when you pull back the covers on your whaling practices.
Oh dear I feel for the Whales…
Oh wait I forgot sarcasm doesn’t come across so well in text
Well, they can do that because the world has mostly given up on whales and let the Japanese control most organizations in charge of setting quotas on whale hunting.
The real killer is that it seems the younger population in Japan finds whale meat disgusting and won’t touch it with a ten-foot pole, so you have to wonder why they keep doing this crap.
Seriously they are going to have B list stars on the show now! Guess I will find other show to watch, the first season got me into the story of what is happening with whales but now they have to put on celebs to look cool, lame just like the last episode name dropping the chili peppers I was waiting for an album mention!
Captain Watson and the Sea Shepherd crew are true heroes! The Japanese are displaying their trademark “screw you as long as I get mine that´s all that counts”. What a selfish nation!
Clearly the Japanese are researching how tasty whales are.
the Sea Sheptards deserve everything they get. while intentions are good the means that they go about it is uttertly stupid. lets throw this here, take a zodiac here. look if they wanna kill 1000 whale that is what they are gonna do and no boat with backing from animal plant is gonna stop them
Science is serious business
Ironic that the Japanese say they will charge them with “forcible obstruction of business” while at the same time claiming it’s only research and not commercial whaling. How can it be obstructing business if they are supposed to be out there only doing research? What a joke. Godspeed to the Sea Shepherds!