Anti-whalers claim early victory against Japanese fleet

Sea Shepherd’s campaign this year is its biggest yet, involving four ships, a helicopter, three drones and more than 100 crew members.

Just shows how much support they have and how disgusted the rest of the world is about Japan's poaching under a loophole.

"The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit requires Sea Shepherd to stay at least 500 yards from whaling vessels and prohibits “navigating in a manner that is likely to endanger the safe navigation of any such vessel.”

Has to be a loophole here or why would they still follow the Japanese whalers this far. I can't believe they are only there to observe.

He is on board Sea Shepherd’s main ship, Steve Irwin, but has stepped down as skipper and has vowed to abide by a U.S. court ruling in December banning the group from physically confronting any vessel in the Japanese fleet.

The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit requires Sea Shepherd to stay at least 500 yards from whaling vessels and prohibits “navigating in a manner that is likely to endanger the safe navigation of any such vessel.”

Since when does the US think it has any rights to determine what happens in International Waters or waters off the coast of Australia?

It really is amazing how well the anti whaling fleet is equipped , this is a well sponsored fleet...like it says above in comments the world is sick of this display of stubbornness and greed shown by Japan. It guesswork on how much whale this year will go to dog food again ??

So the US court ruling states SS are not allowed within 500 meters and, the IWC states that commercial whaling is banned. Seems to be a war of loopholes. I hope nobody is injured in skirmishes this year, but Japan really has to stop this crap and stop it now. I've spoken to many Japanese people about this and there are three kinds of answers: 25% don't know anything about it, 5% say they like to eat whaling and the rest don't give a fat wombat's ball bag about it. So, why are the Japanese persisting with this? There is no market for whale meat in Japan. They're are several tons of frozen whale in storage that they can't give away and the majority of the population don't even care. I am yet to hear any sort of ligical or sound argument to support Japan's so-called 'research', but hear plenty of reasons why they shouldn't. It just doesn't make sense!

Oh please, Sea Shepherd are nothing more than terrorists... well, okay, eco-terrorists. The "eco" label, however does not excuse their tactics. Personally I am against the hunting of whales, for "research" or otherwise, but resorting to terrorist tactics that endangers the lives of others in order to achieve their objective is wrong. Go ahead and give me a thumbs down. I stand by my opinion.

By the way, for anyone interested, here is Japan's "research". You be the judge as to whether it is useful or not.

http://iwc.int/cache/downloads/a6zrc10o5y8g808sowsk8ggog/SC-63-ProgRepJapan.pdf

little question 935 specimens are beyond what is needed for research, why bother with a this lie. by playing semantics Japan only disgraces itself. if she feel's she has a right to harvest these animals, she should just claim a right to harvest this amount. otherwise you look like the liars that you are.

great, lets hope they dont let em hunt at all!

I, for one, am super grateful that Japan continues to make whale available for consumption. The further away from Westerners, the better the food-source. And whales (and their food-sources) are as far removed as you can get. BANZAI Japan. Tell these hypocrites, you'll share their concern for this poor animal, when they share your concern for nature and human dignity. Whale is delicious, nutricious, and far healthier than that farmed/GMO nastiness that Americans feed on.

Of cource they will be their, this group of Terrorist needs more "TV footage" for their sick television show. What a bunch of LOSERS.

I'm gonna have to try some whale meat one of these days. See if it's any good.

Go whalers. Good hunting.

Wow.. 100 members! Perhaps we should do this job and get well paid for that.

GO SEA SHEPHERD GIVE THEM HELL!! LOL

@Kyle Alpert actually whale meat is very high in fat and has very high levels of mercury compared to beef, pork, poultry etc. hey but if you want to put that rubbish in your body go right ahead. LOL

if she feel's she has a right to harvest these animals, she should just claim a right to harvest this amount.

That would mean Japan exiting the IWC, which the anti-whalers don't want. Careful what you wish for.

Sea Shepherd needs the Japanese whalers otherwise they won't be able to live that luxurious lifestyle anymore. In other words, Japan should just stop whaling. It costs us tax money and those guys get stinky rich.

@Nessie Japan can exit the IWC whenever they want, wont stop the anti-whalers from giving them hell! LOL

The only that would change in Japan left the IWC would be that it would save a lot of money in bribes. Japan goes against the recommendations and scientific research done by the international community and chooses to commercially whale under the guise of science? They set their own limits and chose the species, they will hunt once again in a designated sanctuary disregarding the rest of the world or even state of a species: such as the endangered Fin Whale of which the Japanese Gov hopes to kill 50 this year??? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fin_whale There are strong calls to not only increase the boycott against Japan but to extend it to the Olympic bid, already individuals are writing the IOC (1 endangered whale is killed the game will end fast including the Olympic bid).

I Feel this is the perfect opportunity for Japan to back out of whaling gracefully while increasing their chances to get the Games by creating some, lacking, sense of global community. There is a deal to be made with conversationalist groups also that could easily create an industry of cetacean watching and research and transform Taiji into a thriving community once again.

The stomach contents of 14 common minke, 100 sei, 50 Bryde’s, and three sperm whales sampled in sub-areas 7, 8 and 9 from June to August during the 2010 JARPNII offshore survey, were analyzed. Furthermore, the stomach contents of 45 common minke whales sampled near Sanriku’s coastal-area from April to June and 60 common minke whales sampled near Kushiro’s coastal-area from September to October during the 2010 JARPN II coastal survey, were analyzed.

papasmurfinjapan - Here is a little extract from the data link you provided. Did you actually read it or just Google it? They are just slaughtering whales and calling it research. Why do they need to kill so many? There is no scientific basis to the slaughter of so many. The information they obtain from their research can be obtained from a few animals and a lot of it can be obtained through non-lethal research. Yes, they are releasing a lot of data about whales, but there is no scientific precedence for their research or can they justify killing a thousand animals in the southern oceans and hundreds more in the northern oceans. There is nothing to justify the killing of so many whales regardless of the BS they put out on paper.

These hunts are a source of conflict between pro- and anti-whaling countries and organizations. Nations, scientists and environmental organizations opposed to whaling consider the Japanese research program to be unnecessary at best and a thinly disguised commercial whaling operation at worst.[4][5][6][7]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling_in_Japan

The great thing about this day and age is that we are able to do research without slaughtering an animal and leaving it's flesh to rot in a freezer because no one wants to buy it. This year when revealing the fisheries plan to auction the left over meat on-line they admitted that the venture was commercial as a way to justify taking so much of the Tsunami Relief Fund.

I've spoken to many Japanese people about this and there are three kinds of answers: 25% don't know anything about it, 5% say they like to eat whaling and the rest don't give a fat wombat's ball bag about it. So, why are the Japanese persisting with this?

Love the wombat bit.

To me it's just a very, very hard headed determination to try to preserve a practice they consider 'traditional'. For whatever reason, they have taken particular exception to the International community effectively saying; 'Hey, we have gone too hard on whales and overfished them, it's time for us to stop for a while and let their populations recover properly.' I don't know if it's fueled by their sense of 'uniqueness' or the old mentality of isolationism, or pure Japanese pride but they just can't be good global citizens when it comes to this. Mores the pity.

Whaling was 'traditional' (if we look at the way they are harvesting them) in many, many countries in the world, including mine. In fact whaling was one of the foundation industries in my country as a youthful nation established itself. It's an intergral part of who we are. But when the time came to halt it, it was stopped, despite the bitter opposition of the whaling industry. So I reject the idea that the 'tradition' of whaling in Japan is more important than the tradition of whaling in my country. They make a farce of the whole notion anyway by chasing whales waaaay down in the Antarctic with ultra-modern whaling ships.

It's just a selfish sham. Go the SS!

paulinusaJan. 30, 2013 - 11:32AM JST

"The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit requires Sea Shepherd to stay at least 500 yards from whaling vessels and prohibits “navigating in a manner that is likely to endanger the safe navigation of any such vessel.”

Has to be a loophole here or why would they still follow the Japanese whalers this far. I can't believe they are only there to observe.

The loophole is that they are self-proclaimed pirates and claim their international crew isn't subject to the laws of the USA, even though their boats are owned by a US non-profit company and can be impounded at the request of the courts.

Go SS...

As Tamarama said, most of us on here come from countries which had a strong whaling tradition, but we ended the practice. Now we see whales and other Cetaceans as the highly intelligent, sentient beings that they are. Just last week there was the report of a dolphin seeking help from a diver to escape a net, and the other day a pod trying to stop one of their family from dying. Whales display that same intelligence and compassion towards their pod members or others of their species if they are more solitary. These are the creatures that Japan and others want to kill. Would you advocate the killing of great apes? How about elephants? Okay to kill them too? No, I thought not, so why are whales not to be given the same protection and security as other intelligent creatures?

I hope SS can thwart the fleet's mission this year.

Kyle: "I, for one, am super grateful that Japan continues to make whale available for consumption. The further away from Westerners, the better the food-source."

Hang on a sec..... the 'further away from Westerners...' while they are in fact going further and further away from Asia and closer and closer to Australia? That makes a lot of sense.

Anyway, glad to see that SS is being funded through donations by people clearly disgusted with Japan's lie about science, unlike Japan's fleet which is well funded by stealing the money from earthquake relief funds and putting mercs on their ships under the misnomer 'Coast Guard'.

Go SS!

@ Disillusioned

Did you actually read it or just Google it?

I didn't read the entire report in detail, but I skimmed through it. The significance of the findings, if any, within the scientific community is beyond my area of expertise so I am not one to judge whether it is useful research or not. But yes, like you, I have similar doubts regarding the legitimacy of their research.

Where we differ in opinion is I don't believe Sea Shepherd has the right to destroy Japanese property, sabotage boats, or use other terrorist tactics such as throwing acid at Japanese researchers to achieve their goal. This endangers lives, and I believe only hardens Japan's stance on whaling.

I'm against the whaling myself, but I believe Japan should stand her ground, and not give in to these terrorists. Sea Shepherd does more harm than good, and I honestly believe that they are at least partly to blame for the continued slaughter of whales. They are just too arrogant to realize it.

Foxie - Sea Shepherd needs the Japanese whalers otherwise they won't be able to live that luxurious lifestyle anymore.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society are involved in many more conservation projects and have tens of thousands of supporters all over the world. If Japan stops this farce tomorrow the SSCS will still have many more conservation battles to fight and still have tens of thousands of supporters. Do you consider volunteering on a ship for three months in the antarctic a 'luxurious lifestyle'? Really?

For Foxie - http://www.seashepherd.org/

It'll be a sad day if the Japanese ever give up whaling because of the all the hand-wringing crybabies of the world. It's hunting, the most natural thing in the world. The idea that there is something wrong with hunting is what happens when a majority of people become urban instead of rural, at least in first world countries. There are minkes o'plenty in the Antarctic. They certainly should support 500 a year, which is about what has been taken yearly for quite a while now. Whale meat is healthy. The whale sanctuary is a joke. It goes against the ICRW. The IWC is a joke and has completely turned against it's founding principle to "provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry". Japan's whaling is research.

Japan should leave the ICW immediately. I feel sure that Japan will never give in on this issue and that makes me happy. I wish the whalers all the best and hopefully the SS will be arrested or sent to swim with the fishes.

hope they continue the good work!

papasmurfinjapan: "I didn't read the entire report in detail, but I skimmed through it. The significance of the findings, if any, within the scientific community is beyond my area of expertise so I am not one to judge whether it is useful research or not. "

But you used it as a link. Interesting.

Anyway, tone down the use of terrorists, eh? 'Terrorism' has come to mean paranoia in the speaker more than anything, as often people apply it to anyone they don't agree with and/or don't like -- that or 'communist'. You could easily apply the term to the Japanese whalers, if you'd like, if you apply it to SS.

@ smithinjapan

Why may I ask is that interesting? I made no claims about the research, unlike some people who like to present themselves as experts about things they know nothing about. I merely posted a link for people who may be interesting in reading it - so shoot me.

And by the way

terrorism: the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.

As far as I know, it isn't the Japanese researchers threatening or intimidating other people. So your own claim that it could be applied to Japanese sailors really resonates with your comment that " 'Terrorism' has come to mean paranoia in the speaker more than anything, as often people apply it to anyone they don't agree with and/or don't like". Why on earth you are paranoid about Japanese whaling is beyond me, but to each their own I suppose.

You can bet if this season is not successful the next these whalers will go out with a vengeance to prove a point. Reading a few of the posts above it does seem absurd that Japan is trying to hide behind science in releasing information on stomach contents that in reality few countries have any real interest in. They could easily study these mammals in their own habitat without slaughtering them. Today's tech gives them the ability to tag, track with ease.

People arguing about the slaughtering of animals like cows and such ...Peoria actually consume most of this whereas these whales have been proven to end up by the ton in a dog food tin or bag and who knows what else.

Give up the whaling.

CrazedinjapanJan. 30, 2013 - 07:44PM JST

Today's tech gives them the ability to tag, track with ease.

So how do you measure their diets, daily intake, and breeding habits?

Well done, Sea Shepherd!

So how do you measure their diets, daily intake, and breeding habits?

Firstly by not killing them, this may come as a surprise but dead animals don't consume food or breed. How does killing them help you understand your criteria for study?

Basroil , like many people have stated , how much information on stomach contents do you need to collect every year ?? Does it take the slaughtering of hundreds of whales or would a few suffice in different locations around the world ?? Stomach contents don't give you breeding habits, social habits. It doesn't even give you the methods of how often,when where these mammals feed ....just what they have eaten recently ...which is more likely to give the same results with the hundreds they slaughtered in the name of science.

This organization isn't promoting whale hunting as a means to collect information. Biologists are learning more from studying these mammals alive in their natural habitat. Why doesn't Japan take some initiative and help come up with better methods in finding or improving the way information is collected without using a harpoon.

http://www.cas.usf.edu/news/s/89

If you track a whale it's bound to take a dump at some point.... boffins can gather what information they need from that. Killing and gutting a magnificent animal just to see what he ate is obscene.... and of course what do you think happens when they catch a pregnant female? What do they do with the unborn calf? It's just a disgusting archaic practice.

Papasmurf - terrorism: the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.

Thanks for that because you have just proven that SCCS are not terrorists because they are not motivated by politics. They are motivated by conservation.

Basroil - So how do you measure their diets, daily intake, and breeding habits?

Why do they have to know? And, why do they need to kill a thousand every year? Fail!!!

They are motivated by conservation

Well by golly, let me just make up some acid bombs and go on a vigilante mission against those sick folk who abuse their pets. It's just a worthy a cause as saving whales, and if it's in the name of conservation, I guess that means it's okay to destroy property and endanger peoples lives.

I think you only support Sea Shepherd's actions because it takes place far away from the safety of your computer screen. If they brought the fight to your neighborhood, would you be so eager to support their militant actions? Let's do away with the personal attacks for a moment - this is a serious question.

oh, and by you I'm not singling out Disillusioned - I mean all of you followers of Sea Shepherd.

Full steam ahead, Sea Shepard and fleet. It seems you and now hunting the Japanese fleet! A brilliant turn of the wheel. Detractors on this comment thread are looking like the apologist for this despicable practice that it is. GO SS!

bookowls

Since when does the US think it has any rights to determine what happens in International Waters or waters off the coast of Australia?

Since Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is a U.S.-based organization. It's not rocket science you know...

Where are you some of you coming up with this idea that Japanese people don't eat whale meat anymore? Where I live almost every yakitori restaurant, kuwayaki pub and izakaya-styled restaurant offers whale meat on their menu and from what I've seen it's regularly ordered by the customers. To claim that there is no demand for whale meat in Japan is simply wrong.

USinJapan2 - thanks for confirming that Japan's whaling is to support a commercial entity. Fail! The sad fact is, most of the meat sold in izakaya chains is actually dolphin meat, which the Japanese make no distinction from whale, and dolphin meat has been proven to contain unsafe amounts of mercury, other heavy metals and pesticides. WHO has ruled all toothed whale meat unfit for human consumption. Fail! The meat from baleen whales (minki, humpback, etc.) is too expensive for Naoki Average to eat and sits in freezers across the country. Fact!

For every unfounded argument to support Japan's whale poaching there are ten to denounce it. Fail!

A grade! As I keep saying, there is nothing in Japan's so-called 'research' that justifies killing a thousand whales a year in the southern ocean and hundreds more in the northern hemisphere every year. And, I do know people in the izakaya and supermarket business and know that dolphin meat is labelled as whale and sold much cheaper. Get a clue? Really? I'm afraid it is you that has bought into the whitewash, not I.

To claim that there is no demand for whale meat in Japan is simply wrong.

Try asking a Japanese housewife if is she is planning on or even interested in putting whale meat on the family table... almost every single one will look at you like you're a nutjob for even asking such a ridiculous question. This reaction is more pronounced the younger the housewife.

The simple fact is whale meat is now a niche food in Japan.

It's a weird food, like ostrich meat or crocodile meat.

People might try a tiny bit now and then but then they will be back to the delicious staples of chicken, pork, etc.

And the simple fact is that it will become even more of a weird food as the current crop of ojisans die off. Because in these izakayas, etc it is these oyajis who are mainly buying it.

In fact, from what I observe, as the younger housewives come through to make up the main bulk of homemakers then whale meat will probably move from being a weird food to being a pariah food.

If you have tried it, I'm sure you'll agree with me... it's an average-to-poor tasting meat... completely forgettable.

Many foreigners (me included) have no problem with Japan taking whales in the seas around Japan.

What we can't understand is Japan sending a massive Victorian-era style fleet of killing ships to the furthest reaches of the globe to greedily grab yet more whales from the pristine Antarctic.

The Japanese are always going on and on about "Our whaling food culture! Our very important and traditional whaling food culture!"

Inevitably, people around the globe will wonder...

What the hell has the Antarctic got to do with Japanese food culture?!

These Antarctic whale grabbing expeditions make Japan look extremely greedy, arrogant and selfish on the world stage.

According to Japanese government data, there is an abundant supply of whales in the seas around Japan and then yet it sends this huge killing armada to the precious and unique Antarctic environment to grab more.

Japan likes to tell the world about it's "unique food culture"...

well, how about Japan start to think more about how unique the Antarctic is...

And how about all the 100,000s of liters of fuel burnt to get this enormous fleet down to the Antarctic. If you have an abundant supply of whales on your doorstep (as the Japanese government claims) then why emit all that greenhouse gas unnecessarily?

And don't forget how dangerous this fleet is. Anyone remember the terrible fire on the huge factory ship the Nishin Maru? It killed a poor Japanese sailor and left that massive ship dead in the water in the pristine Antarctic. Imagine if the fire had got out of control and resulted in a massive oil spill... would Japan be sending a clean-up operation? Oh, wait... there is no clean-up operation.

People are getting more and more angry at the danger being posed to this unique and precious environment.

There is also the whole mistaken spirit of the Japanese Antarctic whale-grabbing. Many people won't have heard of the Madrid Agreement. In this wonderful document, countries have agreed to preserve the Antarctic for peaceful scientific research and also have banned mining down there. What a beautiful and amazing thing that countries could agree to that.

So what does Japan bring to the Antarctic table? A huge killing fleet intent on greedily grabbing resources... yeah, well done Japan, that really does follow the spirit of the Madrid Agreement.

To put Japan's Antarctic whaling into perspective, consider that every single country nearest to the Antarctic opposes whaling!! Every single one! Count 'em... Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Oz, NZ... the five countries circling the Antarctic and countries that naturally consider that area to be a part of their neck of the woods...

How can on earth can Japan just ignore all of them and grab the whales down there... is Japan really so selfish and greedy as to ignore all these countries' opinions?

choiwaruoyaji

The simple fact is whale meat is now a niche food in Japan.

No kidding. Ergo the insignificant amount (tonnage) that makes it onto the commercial market. That doesn't mean there isn't a demand for it.

And, I do know people in the izakaya and supermarket business and know that dolphin meat is labelled as whale and sold much cheaper. Get a clue? Really? I'm afraid it is you that has bought into the whitewash, not I.

Sure. Right.

By the sheer size of their brains and the density of convolutions in their forebrains whales are by far the most intelligent life form on planet earth. They are both individuals with their own thoughts, and participants in a telepathic group mind, an internet without our need for external machines. Amazing that we humans have stopped eating each other because we recognize we are all sentient beings, but continue to believe it is okay to eat beings who are more intelligent and far more peaceful than us! No wonder the ETs don't communicate with our leaders, they would be killed and eaten in restaurants as the latest delicacy!

spudmanJan. 30, 2013 - 08:22PM JST

Firstly by not killing them, this may come as a surprise but dead animals don't consume food or breed. How does killing them help you understand your criteria for study?

How many times have you heard of scientists pumping out the stomach and intestines of a whale that's still alive? Short of taking it to an aquarium (where the whale won't even have a 50-50 chance of making it there alive), not really possible to see how much they eat while it's still alive.

CrazedinjapanJan. 30, 2013 - 08:40PM JST

how much information on stomach contents do you need to collect every year

Considering they eat fish and krill protected under UN treaties, you need to check to see if their feeding patterns change, since that usually means a change in the availability of their food. You can't capture the protected marine life legally, so there is a legitimate loophole there.

Does it take the slaughtering of hundreds of whales or would a few suffice in different locations around the world ?

Statistically speaking, 200-400 would probably be enough depending on the data. There's only one location used though, not sure where you get "around the world" from.

SCCS are not terrorists because they are not motivated by politics. They are motivated by conservation

Conservation is a political issue according to all it's definitions for this case. Whales are at the top of their food chain, and therefore conservation serves no ecobiological purpose that humans aren't already doing (one of the reasons whale's food is more protected than the whales themselves).

You have to ask the question, between the money the Japanese are wasting on whaling and the money SS wastes chasing them around - how many hungry people could have been fed with all that money?

@basroil - I am not involved with sea shepherd/greenpeace. My statement about whales being telepathic comes from my personal experiences with them. I believe in science, but science tells us nothing about the mind of man or animals. If you are interested in thinking beyond the box science puts the world in, I suggest you try meditation. That said, stomach contents could tell us something about intelligence. For example analysing the food humans eat would reveal much of it is poisoned by "scientific" genetic modification and added chemicals. What does that say about our intelligence?

All this fuss and publicity is really all this story is about. The Fishermen are fishtermen, they fish for fish, some large some small. Eveyone just about eats fish. To seperate out one species because they are large and prominent is beyond silly. And the Media clearly enjoys and thrives on such sensationalism which feeds the antics of the juvenile delinquents who try to wear the label of "Protestors" and Protectors. I think they would be much better off with real jobs, maybe lifesaving or marine service with their nifty boats instead of obstructing and imepding lawful and legal and entirely normal fishing. Get a life people. Thanks for the coverage but it is really a none story.

And meantime the Japanese whalers have again entered australian waters around Macquarie island. Funny how the Japanese carry on when the Chinese enter their claimed waters. Seems they don't like others doing it to them but are happy doing it to others

Outta here

And meantime the Japanese whalers have again entered australian waters around Macquarie island.

First of all, the Japanese ships are not entering Australia's territorial waters (<12nm), they are entering Australia's EEZ (<200nm). As long as the Japanese whaling ships don't actually engage in whaling inside the EEZ they have every right to transiting through or loiter there as long as they like. It's called 'innocent passage' and it's the right of all vessels. In addition, Australia does not have the legal right to restrict or prohibit what is carried aboard foreign ships in their EEZ (not territorial waters), i.e. Australia can't tell a Japanese whaler that it can't enter its EEZ because it has whale meat/parts aboard. The Chinese para-military ships that you refer to actually enter the territorial waters (>12nm) surrounding the disputed islands and are therefore considered by Japan to violate its sovereign territory. BIG difference.

USNinJapan2

Firstly the vessel was asked to leave these waters just like it was last year. Now the Australian government has ordered it leave and again the Japanese are ignoring this. Just like they did last year when they actually entered our territorial waters on several occasions.

First of all, the Japanese ships are not entering Australia's territorial waters (<12nm), they are entering Australia's EEZ (<200nm). As long as the Japanese whaling ships don't actually engage in whaling inside the EEZ they have every right to transiting through or loiter there as long as they like. It's called 'innocent passage' and it's the right of all vessels. In addition, Australia does not have the legal right to restrict or prohibit what is carried aboard foreign ships in their EEZ (not territorial waters), i.e. Australia can't tell a Japanese whaler that it can't enter its EEZ because it has whale meat/parts aboard.

Actually if you bothered to read the rules regarding "innocent passage" it specifically states that "any other activity not having a direct bearing on passage" is inconsistent with the actual "innocent passage" you mention.

The Chinese para-military ships that you refer to actually enter the territorial waters (>12nm) surrounding the disputed islands and are therefore considered by Japan to violate its sovereign territory. BIG difference.

Big difference hey! Lets see the vessel that is australian waters is carrying JCG officers and is a security vessel. Therefore it is a para military vessel. It has entered territorial waters, did so on many occasions last year. And for the record there have been several instances reported on this very site of Chinese vessels entering the EEZ only around the Japanese claimed islands and posters have got up in arms over that as has the j government. I guess it's ok for the Japanese to do it to Australia but when china does it to Japan it's a terrible regrettable incident. Two faced at best. And the funniest thing is that the Japanese want a defence agreement with us to help with the Chinese issue...... Maybe the Japanese government should read the Australian media and the comments by the Australian public regarding this latest violation by the Japanese to gauge our feelings on the matter...