After a man fell from a Japanese whaling ship into the freezing antarctic waters, the whalers have called off all operations while in search for the man’s body.
[social_buttons]
Sea Shepherd, usually the arch nemesis of the whalers, offered to help find the body with their two small boats and helicopter, but the Japanese refused saying they would not require any help from an “eco-terrorist organization.”
Captain Paul Watson says that Sea Shepherd has ignored their request and has begun searching for the body with his two small boat crews and helicopter. He also has promised not to interfere with any Japanese operations while they search for the body.
Unfortunately Sea Shepherd will not be able to help with the search for long as they will soon depart back to port to refuel. They plan to dock in Tasmania due to its close proximity, but Japan has been petitioning Australia, Chile, and New Zealand to prevent the Steve Irwin ship from refueling.
Of course, the Japanese have an entirely different story to tell about the search for the missing whaler and say that the activists have been disrupting their search.
More posts about Sea Shepherd:
- Greenpeace vs. Sea Shepherd: An Unfortunate Conflict
- New ‘Whale Wars’ TV Show Documents Anti-Whaling Activists
- Japan Plans to Arrest Sea Shepherd Crew
- Sea Shepherd Now has Former US Navy Lieutenant Onboard
- Animal Planet, Daryl Hannah Join Sea Shepherd Crew For More Whale Wars
- “Madagascar Two” Movie Inaccurate According to Sea Shepherd
- Australia, Greenpeace Opt Out of This Winter’s ‘Whale Wars’
- Japan Accuses Animal Planet of EcoTerrorism Prior to “Whale Wars” Premiere
SS bunch of koolaid drinkers with good intentions. But they do things like fake getting shot by the japanese for publicity. What a joke.
Although I firmly believe in stopping whaling, the crew, as well as the captain of the Steve Irwin make all of us “eco-friends” look like a bunch of bumbling, whining, hippie freaks. I can no longer watch Whale Wars, as I have now found myself cheering for anything that might make the crew and captain of the Steve Irwin look even more ridiculous than they already do.
Save the whales, but harpoon the Steve Irwin..
Anne, are you Japanese or a bitter Greenpeace activist?
I think we should just start harpooning sumo wrestlers and see what they think of that.
Anne,
The Japanese do claim that the Steve Irwin was running dark. It will be interesting to see the Animal Planet footage of this situation to see who is telling the truth.
-Alex
I’m with Anne on this one. There is no reason (other than hostile ones) that any ship would approach another with the lights off. Besides that, how were they supposed to be helping the search without those lights? It smacks of a stunt to me and probably cost a man, whaler though he may be, his life.
There is nothing in the article to lead me to believe the SS was running dark. Anne, were you there? Why don’t you love the whales?
Well considering SS drove up with all their lights off might have something to do with it. They came up to Japan’s ship with lights off then only turned on minimum lights once it was identified, then claimed they were there to help. Then they drove circles around the ship with lights off like that’s helping. They used the distress signals to locate the ship they were unable to locate otherwise. SS wasn’t there to help. Watson doesn’t care about anything but getting his propaganda in the media.
I am curious what the missing whaler (would have wanted) or his family wants. Only that should be important. International law requires ships to help in these instances.